Book 43 - Stronger Than The Night
by GailDunn2
Summary: WARNING: ADULT THEMES AND SITUATIONS. God's shocking decision changes the Earth's landscape as three factions do battle upon it. How much is too much? Who will stand up to the Almighty, and what will be the cost?
1. Prologue

LUCIFER - SWEET CHILD O' MINE

Finally, the Devil thought with elation as he sauntered back to his and Felicia's apartment. Finally! After all of those wasted millennia, watching Dad give blessing after blessing to Castiel, and Gabriel, and Raphael, and Ignatius, and all of those other sanctimonious losers. Finally, it was Lucifer's time to shine.

He hadn't just snapped himself home, though, because he needed the time to think. Where did he want to go? What did he want to do? He felt just like a little kid at Christmas, drooling at the sight of all the presents underneath the tree. What to open first? The analogy tickled him, and he threw his head back and laughed. A dozen blocks away, an explosion ripped through a high school, and there was a multi-vehicle pileup on the highway that led into town. Or, what Lucifer would call a damn good start.

He took the page from the Book of Life out of his pocket and regarded it for a moment. With this little scrap of paper and his prodigious powers, he was going to be able to take this planet for his own. If he had been allowed to stay in Heaven, Lucifer would definitely have cast his vote for annexation. In his view, humans were vastly inferior to him and his kind, in every way possible. Their planet was his for the taking, and if those little paramecia didn't like it, that was too bad. They could either submit, or die.

He knew exactly where he was going to start, too. Now that the page had given him The Sight, Lucifer could see them sitting around in a circle, lighting candles and chanting. Plotting against him. Him! How dare they? Where did they get off? It was time to spread the news: Lucifer's Word was The Word.

He popped himself over to the dress shop.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Felicia was saying nervously.

"Don't worry, dearie," Rowena assured her. "I've used this spell on many a brutal man before. It's only a pity that you can't be there to see the eyes pop out of his head. And his willy will shrivel up and turn black with fungus, as well. It's really a wonder to behold," she said fondly.

"But, this man is Lucifer," Patricia protested. "A powerful, fearsome entity."

"That's right, and don't you forget it," Lucifer said, appearing in the middle of the circle. He kicked over the bowl of ingredients, and then snapped his fingers. Patricia's eyes lit on fire, and blood started to gush from her mouth.

"Sorry, Honey," Lucifer said, shrugging. "You seem to have the proper amount of respect, but let's face it, you're kind of a dog. I only want babes in my harem. Nothing personal." Then he snapped his fingers again and she exploded, sending blood and brain matter all over the room.

Rowena made an outraged huffing noise, as the gore landed on her face and hands.

"What's the matter, Red?" Lucifer sneered. "Black fungus on my equipment is a 'wonder', but you can't handle some bitch's guts on your delicate skin?"

"She wasn't a 'bitch', she was our friend," Felicia said, tight-lipped.

Lucifer's head turned slowly to look at his girlfriend. "Oh, look. It speaks," he said sarcastically. "Whose idea was it to have this little hen party, anyway?"

"I just couldn't take it anymore," Felicia wailed. "I've never been able to stand up for myself in relationships, but you just kept on pushing me, and pushing me, until I snapped! Making me work two jobs, while you sat at home all day, or went out drinking. Making me submit to whatever weird sexual positions or combinations you wanted. Hitting me, when I told you I was too tired. You're a monster."

"Awww, my poor little fishie. I had no idea. I really am a rotten bastard, aren't I? Well, guess what?" A blade appeared in his hand. "I'm the Devil! Satan! Lucifer! I'm the rottenest bastard there's ever been! It's right there, in the name!" He stabbed Felicia multiple times, then cast her body aside. Stupid bitch.

Rowena and Abbadon were staring at him warily now. They were both ancient beings, who had escaped death a number of times. Castiel had recently slain Abbadon when the King of Hell had set the Demon woman up to be a sacrifice. But God had brought her back into the field of play, for some reason. Maybe to stick it to Crowley. God was being awfully hard on the Angels; maybe He had a hidden agenda for the other side, as well.

But the bottom line was that both women were intelligent, scheming individuals, who always put themselves first.

"You two bitches got anything to say?" Lucifer said nastily. If he had to, he would have no problem decorating this whole place with their guts. But they were both pretty gorgeous, and he was hoping to start his harem with the best-looking, sexiest women. Besides, these two looked like they'd had a lot of experience. And as a bonus, if he kept those who had plotted against him under his thumb, it would be a great deterrent for any others who might be contemplating the same thing.

"We say Hail To The New King," Abbadon said quickly, and she and Rowena knelt before him. Lucifer grinned. This was gonna be great.

DEATH - WITH OR WITHOUT YOU

Death had not been pleased when God had given Lucifer the page from the Book of Life, to use as His Son saw fit. The Book was being desecrated now, and the apple cart was upset once again. No; not just upset...completely demolished. Destroyed. Death had better outsource a whole lot of Reapers, because the bloodbath was due to begin any moment.

He had turned to God, to ask why. Why, after all these years, was the Almighty giving His most prodigal Son everything? Had He really washed His hands of His favourite pets, the human race, after all this time? Or was God merely flexing His muscles, having the ultimate Biblical temper tantrum?

But God had looked back at Death with a stony countenance, and the ancient entity's words dried up in his throat. There were many things that Death had the power to do, but he still didn't have the nerve to openly defy God, as His children had done. Castiel and Gail had no idea what they had just wrought. The death squads were going to seem like playtime in Kindergarten class compared to what they were about to face. God loved His children, or so He had always claimed. But God's love sometimes came at a high price. At times, Death had wondered if Crowley's way was the better way, if this was the manner in which God treated His favourites.

But Death was an independent contractor, to be colloquial about it. He respected God's authority and power, and top position in the hierarchy. But he had his own job to do, too. So even if he couldn't receive the souls he felt were his due, he would have to take the ones he could get.

It was Gail who was the particular architect behind this latest debacle, so it was Gail who should be punished first. Her childhood friend Aurielle worked as a resort director in Vail, Colorado now. Death popped over there and touched her with his walking stick, and she slumped over the book she had been reading on her coffee break, dead from a massive heart attack at a shockingly young age.

Then, Death knocked on the front door of Gail and Frank's childhood home. Jim was at work, and both siblings had flown the nest now. But Christina had been home, and when she opened the door, there had been another touch, and then she'd slumped to the floor. Another heart attack victim, although this one wouldn't be nearly as surprising. Christina had been getting on a bit in years, and after her children had moved out, she had resumed the 2-pack-a-day smoking habit she'd had before the kids were born.

Death could do nothing to the quartet that he and God had left on Kilimanjaro, because God had placed His protections on them. But otherwise, he had carte blanche. Sam and Dean Winchester's parents were long gone, and the brothers had either consciously or unconsciously evaded long-term entanglements for most of their lives. That was, until the Almighty God had seen fit to bless them both with wives and children in the current reality, of course. But, Death was not a thug. There were certain things he would not do. Besides, there was no need for him to do these things. There were others who would happily soil themselves, if set loose. Lucifer had already disbanded the coven by killing two of the women and seizing the other two, chaining them up in a large mansion he had built for himself as a home base. Currently, Satan was on his way to the Caribbean, to settle an old score there.

Death would be travelling quite a bit further than that, though. Quite a bit further, indeed. He waved his walking stick once more.

VIGNETTE - I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

The man shook the desert sand from his pantaloons as he walked through the streets in the downtown area of the city. People were giving him peculiar looks. Death had told him that he would be inappropriately dressed for this day and age, so Azazel went into a clothing store and picked out a few items to wear. He left the Saqqaran clothing on the floor of the changing room and walked back out of the store, ignoring the young clerk's cries. The employee was lucky. The yellow-eyed Demon could have boiled the man's organs within his body, with just one look. But he had bigger game to hunt, now.

It had been simple enough to find Dean Winchester's house. Azazel wasn't very familiar with computers, but he was familiar with smaller-sized cities. Death had told the Demon that Dean was a businessman now, a self-made man who ran four automobile garages in and around the town. Also, he and his brother Sam and their friend Frank ran a detective agency. And, if that didn't make Dean busy enough, he and his wife did charitable fund drives all year long, for a foundation that his wife ran. And, they had a baby. Azazel smiled. This version of Dean Winchester didn't have a mother who had made a crossroads deal, or a younger brother who'd been marked for death from the moment he was born.

Azazel stopped by the nearest Winchester-owned garage, asking to speak to the manager, who turned out to be Mike. When Frank had left the shop to go to the detective agency full-time, he had promoted Mike to his spot. Carolyn had been thrilled for her husband. Yolie and Emma were going to have another little brother or sister in a few months, and they would need all the financial help they could get.

The ancient Demon told Mike that he was Nicole's father's brother. Her dear old Uncle Joe. He had lost track of his niece after she had grown up and moved away, and he had no idea how to work all that newfangled Google stuff. He did know her husband's name, though, and he had asked down at the diner on Main Street if anyone knew Dean or Nicole Winchester, by any chance. Imagine his surprise when a man had piped up and said that Dean had fixed his car free of charge a few years ago. The man's daughter had been sick, and his wife used the car to take the little one to her medical appointments. When Dean had found out about that, he had not only fixed the man's car personally, but he had also given him a home-made, signed voucher guaranteeing free repairs in the future. Dean Winchester was a saint, the man had said. Azazel's face had broken into a big smile. Yes; yes, he was, he'd told the man.

So the Demon had obtained the address of the garage from the man in the diner, and then once he'd told Mike that story, Mike had given him Dean's home address. Everybody in town loved Dean and Nicole, Mike said. He was happy to help.

Azazel popped himself over to Dean's house once he had left the garage. He stood on the sidewalk in front of the house. There were three cars in the driveway. Hmmm.

He popped into the house, to the upstairs floor. There was no one up here, but he could hear voices downstairs. Male, and female. It was the middle of the day; shouldn't the Winchester boys be out there working, providing for their families? And, speaking of which...

Azazel strolled into one of the bedrooms, where there were two cribs set up. Nicole had just received the news this morning: Baby Elizabeth was going to have a brother or sister. There was an impromptu celebration going on downstairs right now. Nicole, Dean, Quinn, Sam, Kevin and Paul were all there, having a drink. Little Robbie was toddling around on the kitchen floor under Quinn's watchful eye. Elizabeth and Agnes were currently occupying the cribs in the room where Azazel was.

The Demon smiled, and his yellow eyes lit up with evil glee. "Well, well. What have we here? Boy, does THIS ever bring back memories." He looked down at the infants. "There was only one of you, back then. One kid, who was supposed to die. Or, was he supposed to live? Who the hell remembers, anymore? That was way back, when Dexy's Midnight Runners were on top of the charts. Of course, that wasn't nearly as far back as where I've just come from. When ancient beings hold a grudge, they really hold a grudge."

Baby Elizabeth had been sleeping soundly on her stomach, but she rolled over now and gurgled. Baby Agnes hadn't stirred.

"Aren't you cute," Azazel said to Nicole and Dean's daughter. "This is nothing personal, I assure you." He snapped his fingers, and both infants turned into dust.

The Demon looked down at the cribs dispassionately. Hey, it could have been a lot worse. He had once set Mary Winchester on fire and attached her to the ceiling, for her husband and small child to find. What he'd just done was extremely tame, by comparison.

How to proceed next? Death had told the ancient Demon that the Winchesters had God's own protection on them, and therefore, even a former Prince of Hell such as Azazel couldn't harm them. But he could certainly take his revenge on them by hurting their loved ones, couldn't he?

"Frank still not answering?" Paul asked Dean.

"Nope," Dean said, tossing his cell phone on the table.

"It's just as well," Sam said, grinning. "More beer for us."

"Doesn't Gail have a cell phone?" Nicole asked her husband.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah, she does. Now, ask me if she ever answers it, or checks her voice mail. Go ahead; ask me."

"That's 'cause she's with that Cas guy, all the time," Kevin said, smirking.

"Well, keep trying them both, anyway," Nicole said, nudging Dean. "The more people we have around to wait on me hand and foot, the better."

"I hope you get as big as I did with Agnes," Quinn teased her sister-in-law. "Remember all those Shamu jokes you guys made, when I was in my last month? Well, so do I."

Nicole laughed, taking Dean's hand. "Fair enough," she said, smiling at her husband. "Bring 'em on." She looked around at everyone else. "Does anybody want anything to eat?"

"Sit down," Paul instructed the mother-to-be. "I remember how big your feet got last time. We were making clown jokes, behind your back."

Sam shuddered. "I hate clowns. They're creepy."

"OK, uh - " Dean started to say, and then he realized he had nothing. "See, that's why we need Frank here," the elder Winchester remarked with a grin. "He would be able to come up with about a million jokes, right now."

"Has anybody tried Jody?" Quinn suggested, and Sam gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. "Good thinking," he said, picking up his own cell phone.

Frank and Gail were at their parents' house, receiving the sad news. Jody had switched to Sheriff mode, but she had advised Jim and the siblings that there didn't seem to be anything alarming at the scene. The Medical Examiner was going to take a second look once they got Christina's body to the hospital, but the preliminary examination he had done suggested a myocardial infarction. Which, in English, meant a heart attack.

Jim was downcast. "I asked her to quit smoking, and she said she was going to try," he said in a vague, trembling voice, and Gail took her father by the hand and led him into the kitchen to make him a cup of coffee.

"Thanks, Jodes," Frank said to his girlfriend, but he didn't make a move to hug her, because she was on duty.

Jody felt no such reservation, though; not under the circumstances. She put her arms around him, giving him a squeeze. "I'm sorry, Frank. It's always tough to lose a parent, no matter how old you are."

As they were embracing, her cell phone went off. Frank's lips twitched, very briefly. Had this been a less solemn occasion, he would probably have made a joke about that. As it was, he released her so that she could go about her business, and retreated to the kitchen to talk to his father and his sister.

Jody told Sam the sad news. "Oh, crap," the younger Winchester fretted. "Dean may have left a couple of really inappropriate voice mails on Frank's cell, considering the circumstances. You'd better warn him. And tell him and Gail that we're really sorry."

The Sheriff asked him what was going on over there. She could hear the sounds of talking and laughter in the background. Sam told her about Nicole and Dean's news, and Jody smiled. "Tell them we'll be in touch as soon as we can, and congrats," she said.

Jody hung up. She had been just about to go back into the house when she saw Cas striding up the walk. Funny; she hadn't seen him approach.

"How is she?" he said anxiously. For a split second, Jody almost retorted, "Dead." But she knew he wasn't talking about Christina, and a guy like him wouldn't understand the concept of black humour, she was sure. Jody willed her lips not to twitch. She had "space alien" in the mock pool that the guys were running on Cas.

But Gail's boyfriend wasn't waiting for an answer. He swept into the house, as Jody followed. She supposed they should cut the guy a break. He obviously cared about Gail a great deal. It was just that he was so over-the-top about it, sometimes.

Castiel also had the old-school manners, so as he entered the kitchen, he looked at Jim immediately. "I'm very sorry for your loss, Sir," he said respectfully. "She was a fine woman."

"Thank you, Castiel," Jim said softly. "We were just discussing arrangements for the funeral. Would you like to ride in the limousine with us to the service?"

Cas was nonplussed. He had no idea what to say. He had never been to an Earth funeral before.

Frank recognized that look by now, and he decided to let Cas off the hook. Gail's boyfriend was still weird, but he was kind of growing on Frank. Ever since he and Gail had had that little hiccup in their relationship, the guy had been as solid as a rock. "That's the family car, Cas," he explained.

Now, Cas was astonished. "The family - " he started to say, and then he couldn't speak for a moment. He was being asked to join Gail's family at one of their most private and solemn occasions?

Gail could see the look on Cas's face too, and she slipped her hand into his. Cas was suddenly and most unexpectedly on the verge of tears. But, Gail's father was expecting an answer. "I would be most honoured, Sir," he stammered out.

Jim sighed. "I told you, Cas: you can call me Jim."

Castiel nodded. Yes, Gail's father had said that. But at this moment of crisis, he had reverted back to the formalities that Angels used. Actually, he hoped to be able to call Jim his father-in-law, very soon. Ever since Gail had decided not to go to the Caribbean, the two of them had grown closer and closer, and Cas had begun to make more and more of an effort to open up to her, and encourage her to do the same. None of Gail's family or friends knew Castiel's true status, not even Frank. He and Gail had supposed they would have to come clean about the fact that Cas and Gabriel were Angels very soon. She had quipped that it was a small miracle, or maybe a large one, that nobody in their circle had found out about it yet. Cas was normally very discreet, but Gabriel wore his power like a second skin, and he loved showing it off. He was aware of the need for discretion around humans, of course, but every once in a while, it seemed as if he just couldn't help himself. The fact that Gail now knew was a bonus for Gabriel, though. Every now and then, he would invite himself along on one of their dates, and once the three of them were alone, Gabe would cut loose. He soaked up the look of amazement on Gail's face when he would suddenly materialize exotic food and drinks for her to try, or trace actual patterns with the stars in the sky.

Jody had followed Cas into the kitchen. "Well, I'll get going, now," she told them. "Frank, Gail, can I talk to you outside on the porch, for a minute?"

As the siblings followed Frank's girlfriend outside, Cas offered to get Jim a cup of coffee. He took one for himself out of habit, and brought the beverages back to the table, then sat down next to Jim.

"You've never been to a funeral, have you?" Jim asked him bluntly.

The Angel started to smile, and then he remembered what Gail had told him about smiling at inappropriate moments, and he made himself stop. What her father had just said had been unintentionally amusing, considering what Castiel was. But then, Cas frowned. He had certainly been present for a lot of deaths, but no funerals. But he was making a concerted effort to change, with Gail's help. He had told her about some of his background, without going into unnecessarily graphic detail. And he had alluded to the sort of individual he used to be, without telling her exactly how loathsome he had truly been. He had vowed never to be that way again.

"No, Sir...I mean, Jim," Cas said to Gail's father. "My family members tend to live very long lives." Then he winced inwardly. "I'm sorry. Gail has told me that I can be insensitive, sometimes. I assure you, I don't mean to be. And I can also assure you that I'm working on self-improvement."

Jim took a sip of his coffee, regarding Cas over the rim of his cup. He'd been very unsure about this man, when Cas had first started coming around. But, like his son, Jim had warmed towards Gail's boyfriend. He was an acquired taste, though. Cas seemed like a fish out of water, a man from a different era, almost. But he was gentlemanly, with good manners, a rarity these days. And by all accounts, he treated Gail like a princess. A queen. So Jim supposed it could be a lot worse.

Frank and Gail's father sighed. "Well, Cas, I hate to interrupt this little bonding moment we seem to be having, but I need to make some phone calls."

And now Cas did smile, because Gail's father had reminded him so much of her brother Frank at that instant. Cas liked Frank very much: he was friendly, funny, and extremely protective of his younger sister. Cas didn't mind if Frank had been a little standoffish to him at first; that had just made the Angel respect him all the more. Besides, he had been getting along much better with Frank lately, and it seemed as if Gail's friends were warming to him as well. But now, there was this. Cas would have to shelve his plans to propose to Gail once again, until after her family had a chance to observe a suitable period of mourning. How long should that be? He had no idea. Perhaps he should check with Gabriel. But in the meantime, Cas would be riding in the limousine, just as if he were a member of Gail's family. He was so honoured.

Jim was sitting there staring at Cas now. He wasn't too good at taking hints, was he? Gail's father had been just about to say something more to the point when Cas's expression changed. "Oh. You want me to leave!" Gail's boyfriend said proudly. Cas did feel proud, too. So many times, he had missed out on the subtle signals and nuances that humans seemed to use. They seldom said exactly what they meant. Gail's father had wanted Cas to leave him alone so that he could make his phone calls, but he hadn't just gone ahead and said so, because he had been concerned about Cas's feelings. That made Cas happy, and so did the fact that the Angel had come up with it himself, without having had to be told.

Cas sprang to his feet immediately and left the kitchen abruptly, without another word. Jim stared after him, shaking his head slowly. Yeah, Cas was a unique character, all right. He got the address book out that Christina kept in the drawer of the side table and started to make his calls.

CASTIEL - BAD

Cas joined Gail, Frank and Jody on the porch, and he was surprised to see that they were smiling. Gail saw his puzzled expression, and she interpreted it correctly.

"Jody just told us that Nicole is expecting again," Gail told her boyfriend. "That's why we were smiling." But then her smile faded just as quickly. It felt wrong to be standing here grinning so soon after her mom's death.

"They're having a get-together right now, but I told them we'd have to pass," Frank remarked.

Just then, Jody's portable radio crackled to life, and she flipped the bluetooth on. She listened for a moment, then swore viciously. "I've got to go," she told the trio. "You're not going to believe this: we've got reports of screams at Dean's address, and a woman running out of the house, covered in blood." She swore again, then rushed to the patrol car and took off down the street.

"Oh my God!" Gail exclaimed. She looked at Cas, and he looked back at her. "I have to go," Cas said quickly, and he strode off the porch and down the street.

"OK, what the hell was THAT all about?" Frank asked his sister, but she couldn't tell him, of course. Their mother had just died, and now was not the time to have that conversation.

So she just sighed, instead. "Let's go see what we can do to help Dad," she said to her brother. Then she turned and went back into the house, a puzzled big brother trailing behind.

Cas appeared in front of Dean's house a moment later. He saw the woman immediately, laying face-down and motionless on the front lawn. He rushed to her, checking her for signs of life. But it was too late. He gently turned her over. It was Sam's wife, Quinn, and her face and clothing were covered in blood.

The Angel popped into the house just in time to see a terrifying tableau: Sam, Dean, Nicole, Kevin, Paul, and little Robbie were all gathered in the living room, held hostage by an individual who was all too familiar to Castiel.

Dean was struggling mightily, but Azazel had both him and Sam pinned to the wall. Nicole's face was bloodied, and she was clutching little Robbie tight, trying to shield him with her body.

Kevin and Paul were both on the floor, bleeding copiously. Cas couldn't tell if they were alive, or dead.

"Cas!" Dean shouted, as soon as he saw Gail's boyfriend. "Get out of here! Run! Call the cops!"

Cas smiled that strange little smile of his. Dean was concerned for his safety. That was so touching. But Dean had no idea what they were dealing with here. None. His eyes flashed a brilliant blue, and then they turned dark as the Angel Castiel took over.

"Leave these humans alone," Castiel commanded. "You have no quarrel with them."

Azazel was amused. "See, now, that's where you're wrong," he said sarcastically. His eyes flashed a brilliant yellow, just as Cas's eyes had flashed, a moment prior.

"He says he killed our babies!" Nicole said to Cas in a trembling voice. "But, when Quinn and I went upstairs to check on the girls, they were gone!"

Azazel rolled his yellow eyes. "They weren't gone," he contradicted her. "They were still there. I just returned them to their original carbon-based forms."

"You killed our kids?!" Sam exclaimed. He was struggling to free himself from the hold that the Demon had on the brothers, as Dean was. But he had a sick feeling in his stomach now. A really, really sick feeling.

Cas withdrew his blade from his jacket pocket, and Azazel laughed. "What are you going to do with that? You can't kill me with it."

"No, but I can distract you long enough for Gabriel and Raphael to get here," Cas said calmly. "You remember my Brothers, the Archangels?"

Azazel's eyes widened. He had no desire to tangle with Archangels. Still, he didn't feel as if he had accomplished what he'd set out to do here. So, as Gabriel popped into the house with a blade in his hand, Azazel sent a salvo toward Nicole and little Robbie. The toddler had been squirming in Dean's wife's arms, and the beams of light hit the poor child directly, vapourizing him instantly. The light beam then deflected, hitting Nicole in her chest. She crumpled to the floor.

"You son of a bitch!" Dean bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"See you later, Winchesters," the yellow-eyed Demon said nastily. Then he looked at the Angels. "Better hurry up and organize that Army, Castiel. My Lord and Master has already started the Purge."

As both Castiel and Gabriel raised their hands, sending their own salvos of light towards Azazel, he vanished. Their light beams hit the opposite wall, blasting a hole through the plaster.

Gabriel swore in Enochian. Dean and Sam were released as soon as Azazel was gone, and they rushed forward to check on the people in the living room.

Cas knelt down to check on Kevin and Paul, but they were both dead. So was poor little Robbie, whose only crime had been being afraid of the scary yellow-eyed man. The present-day Sam had no first-hand knowledge of Azazel, or anyone of his ilk; all he knew was that some kind of Demon bastard had invaded Dean's house and killed their kids, and that Demon bastard was going to pay. Sam rocked his son in his arms and he began to sob, his hair hanging in his face.

"Cas! Gabe! Get your asses over here!" Dean commanded the Angels.

"Are you so sure we shouldn't be annexing Earth?" Gabriel said to Castiel dryly. But Cas ignored him, rushing to Dean's side. The elder Winchester was cradling his wife in his arms, just as Sam had been cradling Robbie. The only difference was that Nicole was still alive.

"Look, I don't know what you guys are, and right now, I don't really care," Dean said in an agonized tone. "All I know is, if you can do something to help her, anything at all..." Dean looked at Cas, tears filling his eyes. "Please. I'm begging you."

Cas was unsure if it would work. How many times had Azazel struck her, before he'd gotten here? But he put his hand on Nicole's chest, and the blue glow came out, suffusing her torso. They all held their breath.

"Five more minutes," Nicole said weakly. "Just give me five more minutes, Pootie Bear. Can you start the coffee?"

Dean and Cas smiled, glancing at each other. Nicole sat up slowly, and Gabriel's lips twitched. "'Pootie Bear', huh?" he said. But it wouldn't be right to show too much mirth right now, would it? Because now, Sam lifted his head and said, "Where's Quinn?"

Castiel's heart broke for the younger Winchester. He had lost his entire family here today. Now that Cas had spent more and more time with Gail and her family and friends, Cas understood human emotions such as sorrow, love, and compassion. He felt all three for Sam now as he said, "I'm sorry, Sam. Your wife is dead. Please excuse us. We'll be back as soon as we can."

Cas looked at Gabriel, his expression grim. Gabe nodded. He had heard it, too. And if it was true, there were much bigger issues for him and Cas to deal with now. He waved his hand and repaired the far wall of the living room. Then he and Cas popped out of the house, without another word.

"What the hell is going on here, Cas? What have you done?" Gabriel asked his Brother when they were alone.

"What do you mean?" Cas said angrily. He was still very upset about the losses that Gail and her friends had just experienced.

"What do you think?" Gabriel said sarcastically. "I suppose it's just a coincidence that our old buddy Azazel just showed up on Earth, fresh from the deserts of Saqqara, and headed straight for the home of one of your human friends. And, what was that crack about his 'Lord and Master'? He's not talking about - "

"Lucifer," Cas said, biting off the word contemptuously. "We will have to prepare the troops immediately. If he has already begun the killings, we cannot delay."

"Uhhhh...I hate to tell you this, Cas, but that's not gonna happen," Gabriel said, frowning.

"What? Why?" Cas exclaimed.

"Didn't you wonder why Raphael never showed up, when you called him just now?" Gabe inquired of his Brother.

Cas gave a half-shrug. "Frankly? No. Not really. I only called on him because I thought that if I invoked both of your names, Azazel would be the most fearful, based on yours and Raphael's past experiences with him."

"Awww, aren't you sweet," Gabriel said dryly. "Look, Cas, I called Raphael on our frequency when you were healing Dean's wife, and I said regardless of our political differences, when one of his Brothers calls on him, we expect him to show up."

"Thank you, Gabriel," Cas said softly. "That means a lot to me."

"Yeah, well...it meant less than nothing to Raffy," Gabriel said, frowning. "Not only did he not show up, but right now, he's gathering the Army, to move upon the Earth. It looks like the annexation is on."

"Where is Ignatius?" Castiel fumed. "Why did he not stop Raphael?"

"Ignatius is dead," Gabriel said bluntly. "The first casualty of the Holy War. You know, the Apocalypse. Sound familiar?"

Cas was alarmed. The Apocalypse? How had they gotten here, all of a sudden? But, Gabriel was right: if Raphael was leading an Army of Angels unto the Earth, and Lucifer was already there, beginning the Purge, it would truly be the End of Times. The question was, what could he and Gabriel do about it?

GAIL - WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

Gail flopped down on one of the wooden chairs that were set up at the side of the room. "I can't do this anymore," she complained breathlessly. "I can't breathe, I'm sweating like a pig, and I'm so sore I can barely move. Cas is going to have to let up on me."

"I have so many sex jokes going through my mind right now, it's not even funny," Nicole remarked with a bit of a smile.

Gail was glad to see it, however small it might be. Ever since that horrible day, and the funerals that had followed, the smaller group had banded even closer together. Nicole herself had been physically healed by Cas, but she had lost the baby she'd been carrying that day shortly afterwards.

The Winchesters had been devastated by their losses, but once Castiel and Gabriel had let them know what was about to happen on Earth, Sam and Dean and Nicole had vowed to do all they could to help. So, along with Frank and Gail, a group of a few dozen humans were gathered in the gymnasium of one of the college campuses just outside of town. The premises were deserted. There was no time for academic pursuits during Armageddon. Many parents had come and taken their kids back home, whether willingly, or not. Some of the more socially responsible young adults were volunteering to serve in the military, or to help out at the hospitals and medical centres, which were full to overflowing. Even veterinary clinics were treating people now. Victims who were either brought in or managed to stumble in on their own were surprised to find themselves cheek to jowl with household pets that had been caught in the crossfire.

"Look at Lucy Liu, over there," Carolyn said, taking a seat beside the other ladies and grabbing a towel to mop her face and neck.

They looked to where Mike's wife was indicating. Linda and Gabriel were in a simulated fight, and Kevin's mother was giving the Archangel a real challenge. It was funny, in a way; but in another way, it was really sad. Linda was training so ferociously because she was also one of the heartbroken. After she had buried her son and son-in-law, Linda had demanded that the group include her in the fighting.

There was no more pretense among the humans and the Angels, of course. That ship had sailed, as the old saying went. Once Castiel and Gabriel had determined that Raphael and his legion were poised to move upon the Earth, the Angels had brought the few of their brethren who had the courage to stand against Raphael here, to train with their human friends.

The humans had been amazed to discover that there were different types of Angels, with differing levels of powers. Castiel seemed strange to them because he had been an Angel for so long that he knew very little about modern humans and their ways. Gabriel had likewise been around for just about forever, but because he had spent a lot more time in the company of humans, he had assimilated, to a certain extent. Then there were the Biblical Angels, like Daniel and Gregory, who knew absolutely nothing about humans, or their way of life. But they also held the view that their Father's creations were sacred, and must be protected. Whether the Almighty was present in Heaven or not, that didn't matter. Good works were supposed to be performed whether anyone was watching or not.

Then, there were younger Angels like Ethan, who had been taken before their time. They had been humans fairly recently themselves, and as a result, they were horrified at what Raphael and his troops were doing. Those particular Angels had thrown in with Cas, too. But there were all too few of them. Raphael had been executing those Angels who had openly defied him, and now most of the young ones were too intimidated to even try.

Now Jody came along to sit with the women, and she was toweling off, as well. As members of local law enforcement, she and Efram and Riley had been helping to train their fellow humans in hand-to-hand combat, and teaching them defensive moves. They, in turn, were receiving instructions from the Angels on how to wield blades. Guns would not be of any use fighting otherworldly beings.

"If I didn't know otherwise, I would still have picked space alien in the Cas pool," Jody commented lightly. The woman all laughed, even Gail. Once everything had come out about Cas, Gail's friends had confessed to the couple about their make-believe pool, attempting to inject a little levity into a very heart-wrenching situation. Cas had been nonplussed, but Gail had laughed, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. So then the Angel had smiled, but he'd still been uncertain as to whether he found it amusing, or not.

"Look at him go," Nicole marveled. The women were all watching Cas now. He was fighting Frank, Dean, and Sam, all at the same time. Gail was open-mouthed. Wow. On the one hand, she admired his skill, and if she was going to be really shallow about it, he looked very sexy. But on the other hand, he had hinted to her that there had been a time, and not so long ago, when he had used his skills to hurt some of his fellow Angels. He was an extremely complicated individual in so many ways, she realized. But Gail believed that he was honestly trying to better himself, and they were all attempting to protect the humans of the Earth from the Angels who meant them harm. So Cas's fighting skills, and his and the other Angels' powers, were desperately needed now.

Then, there was Lucifer's contingent. After travelling to the Caribbean intending to wreak his revenge on Vincent and his voodoo cult, Lucifer had instead recruited them, and they were killing people in his name. The Devil had the witches casting spells, and he had most of the monsters in his camp, as well. He and Crowley had formed an alliance with Azazel and Vincent for the moment, but it was an uneasy one. All of those Alpha males together were bound to clash, sooner rather than later, Rowena had told Abbadon. Abbadon agreed. They were still toiling away in servitude to Satan, of course, but they were biding their time. Once the infighting among the males began, they had their own contingency plan.

Ethan came over to where the ladies were sitting. "This is starting to look like an eighth-grade dance," he quipped, earning tired smiles from some of them. "Cas wants everyone to line up for repelling practice."

The women all moaned then, and Jody sighed heavily. But the Sheriff stood immediately, motioning for the others to do the same. "Let's go. Hop to, ladies."

Gail rolled her eyes. It was easy for Jody to be so eager to practice these kinds of things, because she was already so good at them. But Gail was sore all over, she had bruises on her bruises, and repelling practice was the worst. Cas had come up with the idea to line all the humans up and have one of the younger Angels use his or her powers to fling them against the wall, or across the room. The human in question would be required to keep hold of their weapon, or at the very least, scramble to retrieve it once they were able to move, then go on the attack once again. Everyone hated repelling practice. The Angels who had opted to join Castiel's ranks had done so because they wanted to help humans, not hurt them. But Cas had insisted. They needed to hone their Angelic skills, and the humans needed to learn how to withstand being repelled by otherworldly beings, because it was going to happen. A lot. He was going to try to send an Angel out with every pair or trio of humans, but his celestial options were limited. The human fighters were just going to have to do the best they could.

It was all smoke and mirrors, though. They were whistling in a hurricane. He and Gabriel had sent out multiple messages on Angel Radio, warning that they had a mighty Army of their own, and that Raphael needed to cease and desist, immediately. But it would all be to no avail, in the end. The reality would become evident soon enough. The humans and their planet were merely pawns in what was shaping up to be the ultimate battle between Heaven and Hell. And the decent Angels and humans, of which there were all too few, could do nothing to prevent it. Yet, they had to try.

"If it's repelling Cas needs, he should just have Frank eat some garlic," Gail wisecracked, and the others laughed. Nicole touched her friend's arm. She and Gail had grown very close, just as Dean and Cas had. Ever since Cas had healed Nicole, she and Dean had warmed to him considerably. Now that they knew the real reason why Cas was so different, they appreciated what it had taken for Cas to reject his Angel Brothers and Sisters and stand with them, instead. Or at least, they thought they did. But they had no idea that a scant couple of years ago, it would have been Cas leading the Angel army, not Raphael. But now, he and Gabriel had a bounty on their heads. Cas had sacrificed everything he had ever been taught to believe in to stand with the humans, and he and Gabriel had now given up their home, as well. If the Angels who were fighting under Raphael won the battle, Castiel and Gabriel would be executed as traitors. Of course, if Lucifer's side won the battle, that would be a moot point. If the side of Evil won, the Angels' main fear was not that they would be executed, but rather, that they wouldn't be.

As the humans all began to line up, Jody grabbed Gail by the arm. "Can I see you for a minute?" she said to Frank's sister, pulling her out of the line.

"Sure, Jody. What's up?" Gail said.

"I want to show you something," the Sheriff said, tight-lipped. She pulled out her cell phone. It was a minor miracle that it still worked. With everything that had been going on, it was a wonder that they weren't making fires and clubbing animals to death for food by now.

She turned the phone on and found some video footage. "Recognize that?" she asked Gail in a clipped tone. "That used to be my station house." Gail stared at the smoking rubble, astonished. "I lost a few dozen good men and women in that building," Jody went on. "The only reason I wasn't there, or Efram, or Riley, is because we were here, with all of you. Eyewitnesses said that a man came sauntering down the street, pointed a finger at the building, and a huge ball of fire came out of nowhere and blew the place to bits. And the worst part, if such a distinction can be made, is that the man had huge wings coming out of his back. Wings, Gail. That wasn't a Demon; it was an Angel. So go ahead, laugh it up. Your boyfriend's family is killing humans, and Lucifer's buddies are killing kids. That's what's actually happening, here."

As Gail stood there trying to absorb what Jody was telling her, Jody shut off her phone and let out a breath. "I'm sorry, Gail. I guess that was a little harsh," she said. "I know this isn't Cas's fault, and I know that you and Frank use humour as a defense mechanism. And I know you've had some losses, too." That was true enough. Gail had gotten the sad news about Aurielle from her old friend's family the same day her own mother's funeral was held, and a scant month after that, her and Frank's father had died, too. The doctors had said that it was a stroke, but Gail was sure that it had actually been heartbreak.

But Gail had received a bit of a wake-up call, now. Jody was right; this was serious business. She had been somewhat aware of what was going on out there in the world, but it was apparent to Gail now that Cas had sheltered her from a fair amount of it, too. And if she was this horrified by what was happening, think how he must feel. Jody had hit the nail on the head: the entities who had been committing the atrocities that Gail had been trying so hard not to think about weren't all from Lucifer's side. It must be hurting Cas a great deal to think of his own Brothers and Sisters, murdering humans by the thousands.

"Let's go practice," Gail said to Jody in a sober tone.


	2. Fast Car

Chapter 1 - Fast Car

Gail was the first one out of their rapidly dwindling group to realize two things. The first thing was that they were completely screwed. Why were the Angels and the Demons still fighting? It must be a pride thing now, or just sheer stubbornness on both Raphael's and Lucifer's parts, because with every passing day it became more and more apparent that there was going to be no prize at the bottom of the cereal box, once all this was over. Earth was being flattened, and there had been so many killings by now that she wasn't sure where the human slaves that both sides had talked about having were supposed to come from. Castiel had frowned when she'd brought up the question, saying that if Lucifer's side won, he had witches and monsters to do his bidding, and if Crowley's Demons thought that they were going to become emancipated by winning the war, they were only deluding themselves. And as far as the Angels went, Raphael definitely wasn't above enslaving his own people, if the number of postwar survivors was insufficient for the Archangel's liking.

That had been one of Gail's biggest fears; that one of them would be captured and taken as a prisoner of war. Castiel had thought about that too, of course, and he had contingencies in place. His actions would depend on who was taken. Some were considered expendable, and would be left to their own devices if captured. Naturally, they could decide to capitulate, and toil away for whichever side they happened to find themselves on. That was not his decision to make. But if that particular individual then raised a hand to any one of Castiel's group, he would have no choice but to kill them. Frank had piped up that this sounded like the deadliest game of Red Rover ever, and some of the humans had smiled grimly. But Castiel wasn't smiling.

And it wasn't just the people, it was...well, everything else. Buildings were being destroyed, streets were ripped up from end to end, and dead bodies were piled up all over town. There were only a few entities who had the ability to just snap their fingers and clear the corpses away, but even they couldn't be everywhere at the same time. Some of the Angels Cas thought he could reach would bury the bodies, or at least take them inside, somewhere. Those were the Angels that seemed to have some sense of compassion left inside of them. Or maybe they just disliked the smell, and the flies. But whenever anyone on their team had seen something like that, they would call on either Cas or Gabriel, and one of the men would attend at the scene, to see if they could persuade those who had demonstrated compassion to come over to their side. And a few actually had come, but not very many. Most of them were too frightened and intimidated by Raphael and his lieutenants. Even though he had been one of the loudest detractors of Castiel and Jason's Special Forces, Raphael had now given Cas's former compatriot the green light to re-form that group, and they were eagerly plying their trade once again. Castiel would almost rather one of his troops be captured by Lucifer than by Jason and those men. He had first-hand knowledge of the atrocities those men were capable of committing, because he had once commanded them himself. And that had been in peacetime. This was war, so anything and everything was on the table.

The second thing that Gail had begun to realize was nothing short of astonishing. She and Tommy, Nicole, Dean and an Angel named Isaac were currently helping Dean to close up his autobody shops, one by one. People had stopped bringing their cars in, anyway. When you were in the middle of an Apocalypse, things like car repairs tended to go by the wayside. But Dean had wanted to go through the places, first. If there were any implements that could be used as weapons, he meant to see to it that they weren't seized by the wrong people. Not all of the enemy were otherworldly beings. Both the Angels and Lucifer's crew had picked up humans to fight on their sides along the way, for one reason or another. Dean couldn't understand it. People, taking up arms against other people. And for what? What did they think was gonna happen if their side won? Did they think that either Lucifer or Raphael were going to just accept them into the fold and treat them like equals? Cas had told them all how those guys viewed humans. In fact, their Angel friend had confessed that he used to feel exactly the same way. He didn't any more, of course, but Cas had informed them that humans were viewed as no better than cockroaches to hardline Angels like Raphael. Vermin, to be exterminated as efficiently and expeditiously as possible. OK, OK, they got it, Dean had said disgustedly. Geez. Cas sure didn't hold back when it came to that kind of stuff. But Dean couldn't say a word against Cas. Not only had his Angel friend crossed the floor, big time, he had put his money where his mouth was. Cas was out there fighting his own kind every day to protect humans. Each and every day. And he had healed Nicole. If Cas had never done anything else, that one act had been enough to cement Dean's friendship with Cas. Cas was still weird and he always would be, but Dean felt a growing affection for the Angel, anyway.

So did Nicole. She and Gail were working in the office that used to be Frank's, shredding paperwork and putting aside anything that might be of value. Dean and Tommy were on the shop floor, sorting through the tools and other equipment. Tommy had joked that he was probably one of the only gay guys they knew who would be up to that task, and Barry had chided his partner for feeding a stereotype. Then Tommy had asked Barry if he knew the difference between a socket wrench and a screwdriver, and most of the men had laughed at the puzzled expression on Barry's face. The only screwdriver he knew about was vodka and orange juice, and boy, couldn't he use one of those right about now, Barry had quipped. Frank had clapped a hand on Barry's shoulder and said that as humour went, he couldn't possibly improve on that line, and Barry had smiled widely. They had to take those moments of levity when and where they could get them, because the reality of life out there was so stark these days, by comparison.

Isaac the Angel had painted temporary sigils on the outside of the building, and he was patrolling the perimeter as an extra precaution. The sigils would work on every Angel except Upper Echelon members, but Castiel hadn't been overly concerned about that. Generals deployed troops; they almost never entered the fray themselves. If they had merely been vanquishing humans, it would probably have been a different story. But with Lucifer and his contingents out there actively doing their own killing, discretion was the better part of valour. There had been fairly heavy casualties on both sides, but so far, the major players all remained on the game board. Isaac wondered how long that status quo would hold.

Nicole and Gail were finished in the office. They hadn't saved much. What use would business records be in a world such as they were living in now? Gail had found the old brass nameplate that had her brother's name and title as Manager, and she thought that he would like to have it as a memento. That was back when they were all still deluding themselves that things could return back to normal, of course.

Dean was standing beside a black 1967 Chevy Impala, running his hand over it lovingly. Nicole moved to stand beside him, and Dean gave her a squeeze. "Remember going out cruising in this baby, playing the oldies on the radio?" he asked his wife.

"Of course I do. I love this car," Nicole said, nuzzling her husband's cheek. "My favourite part was the time we parked at that Lookout Point."

As Dean and Nicole began to kiss, Gail said, "Ewww. Get a room, you guys. You're as bad as me and Cas." But even as she said that, she realized that she had no idea where it had come from. This iteration of Cas was not demonstrative with his affection at all, and he and Gail had been entirely celibate the whole time they had known each other. There were way too many other things keeping them occupied right now.

Dean was still kissing Nicole, ignoring their friend. He and his wife had been so despondent over losing their kids, and Quinn, and Sam's kids, that they hadn't really been in much of a mood to be affectionate. But they were starting to realize that life was much too precarious these days not to show love for your loved ones while you could. No one knew from one day to the next if they would all still be alive when the sun went down that night.

"Settle down, Egbert," Tommy said with a smile, and Gail looked at him sharply. "What?!" she exclaimed.

Tommy laughed. "Sorry. My mom used to say that to my dad, sometimes. When I asked them what that meant, they would just laugh, and say that it was a private joke."

Gail was staring at Dean now. Why was she looking at HIM? What would he have to do with Tommy's parents?

"I know what you mean," Nicole said to Tommy. "My Grandpa used to have all kinds of these weird, non sequitur sayings, that only made sense to him. When he died, we half-joked that he was going to come back and haunt us." Her smile faded. "Sorry. I guess that was really inappropriate, considering all of our circumstances."

Then Nicole began to cry, and Dean held her, consoling her. Neither Tommy nor Gail thought anything of the rapid segueway of emotions. They'd all experienced those, in this new world order.

But Gail was standing there now, transfixed. What was it about Nicole's grandfather and the comment she'd made about a haunting that was tickling Gail's brain now? She felt a chill, all of a sudden. Maybe it was the power of suggestion. Back when she and Frank had been taking Sam's class, they had learned that when ghosts manifested, the room frequently became colder.

Now, she was thinking about THAT. A University Professor who taught about ancient cultures and civilizations, and a mechanic-turned-entrepreneur? How did two guys like that know so much about supernatural beings? How did they know how to fight, and wield weapons so efficiently? Cas had been astonished to see the skill the brothers had demonstrated in training. Frank, too. Where had those qualities come from?

And then, there were Jody and Frank, as a couple. Every time Gail saw the two of them, joking around with each other or stealing the occasional kiss, Gail felt both very happy and very sad somehow, at the exact same time. Why would that be?

And then, there was Sam and Dean's friend, Bobby Singer. The older man had come into their training facility a few days ago, saying he wanted to help. The brothers had taken Cas and Gabriel aside and told the Angels that Bobby was already fighting a battle, one within his own body. Their old friend had lung cancer, and he was thinner than he should be, with a very pale complexion. But he was a proud man, who knew an awful lot about monsters and Demons. So Cas had installed Bobby in an office, and he was currently acting as liaison between the Angels and the humans, deploying teams at Cas's or Gabriel's direction.

Bobby hadn't batted an eyelash when the Winchesters had told him about the Angels and Lucifer, but he had stared at Frank, Jody and Gail, when Sam and Dean had introduced them. Gail had been staring at Bobby, too. He had seemed very familiar to her somehow, although she had no idea why that would be.

Isaac suddenly appeared on the shop floor, and he was holding a cell phone in his hand. Nicole had collected herself once more, and she couldn't help but smile at the distasteful way the Angel was holding the phone, as if it was crawling with germs. Isaac was one of the longer-serving Angels, and he knew nothing about humans, or their ways. But Cas had insisted that every Angel carry a cell phone. He and Gabriel needed to make sure that they could communicate with the humans they were protecting.

"Gabriel wants to talk to you," Isaac said, extending the phone to Gail.

"Me?!" She was scared. Why would Gabriel want to talk to HER? Had something happened to Frank? She gasped. Has something happened to Cas?

Gail took the phone. "Hi, Gabriel, it's me," she said into it. "Is everyone OK?"

"Sure, Penguin. Everybody's fine!" Gabe shouted. Gail winced, holding the phone away from her ear. Even the Angels who knew how to use cell phones always yelled into them, like they couldn't quite believe that the humans on the other end could hear them. She guessed she could kind of understand it. They were all able to converse with each other in their heads, after all. Must be nice. Still, she was going to be deaf soon, if they didn't ease off a little.

"Why are you calling, Gabriel?" she said into the receiver, trying to keep her ear away from it.

"Cas wanted me to find out how much longer you're going to be," Gabe said. "You know how worried he gets."

Gail looked inquiringly at Dean, whose lips were twitching now. "I heard," he said, resisting the urge to add that everybody within a five-mile radius probably had, too. "I think we're done, here. Between the three of us guys, we should be able to handle the heavy stuff OK. Right, Ike?" he said to the Angel, who regarded the elder Winchester dubiously. "My name is Isaac," the Angel sniffed.

"We'll be back in just a minute," Gail told Gabriel. "Good," he remarked. "See you soon, Penguin."

"Kitten," she corrected him absently.

"What?" Gabriel said, puzzled.

"It's 'Kitten'," she said, open-mouthed with surprise at her sudden revelation. "You call me Kitten."

And by the time she'd hung up the phone and had Isaac transport them all back to headquarters, Gail had remembered everything.

Lucifer and Vincent sat in the library area of the multi-million dollar mansion that Satan had commandeered as his own headquarters, swilling wine and doing parlour tricks. Lucifer would wiggle his finger and levitate an object, and Vincent would wave his hand and make it explode, or fly it across the room.

The Devil was restless and bored. Crowley had the Demons out there kicking Angel ass, and Vincent's voodoo people were brewing up spells with the witches. He had an extensive harem now, comprised of witches, Demons, humans, and even a few Angels, for when he felt like sending a message. Azazel and John would pop in every once in a while to report that Raphael was suffering ever-increasing casualties, and that more and more Angels were deserting the Archangel to join Castiel and Gabriel, and their band of upstarts.

Castiel and Gabriel. Lucifer's erstwhile Brothers. He hadn't been too surprised that Gabriel was siding with the humans. The Archangel had always been a hedonistic individual, and Lucifer had to admit that there were a number of things Earth could offer a pleasure-seeker that Heaven could not. But...Castiel? Now, that one had been a shocker. Castiel had been the hardest of hardline Angels, a sour-faced, sanctimonious shell of a man. What could have happened to have changed his outlook so radically?

Lucifer found out a few minutes later, when Azazel brought in a small, nebbish-looking Angel. "Look who I have here," the yellow-eyed Demon said smugly. He pushed Metatron, hard, and the Scribe fell to his knees on the library floor. "Kneel in front of your new Lord," Azazel sneered.

"Don't hurt me, please," Metatron begged. "I'm a Scribe, not a warrior."

"No; what he is, is a coward," John said, popping into the room with a captive of his own. This one was defiant and struggling, but Lucifer waved his hand and Jason went down to his knees, too.

"Well, well. Now, we're getting somewhere," Lucifer said, grinning. He was almost as happy for the break in monotony as he was to see the identities of the latest captives.

"Who are these guys?" Vincent asked curiously.

"The one who looks like a weasel is Metatron, and the other one is Jason," Satan told his compatriot. "Both are members of the Upper Echelon. Raphael's not gonna care what we do with the Scribe, but he'll be sorry to lose Jason. He and Castiel were the worst, most bloodthirsty Angels in Heaven, until their breakup. Did you get any alimony, at least?" he added with nasty good humour, looking at Jason.

"I can help you," Metatron was saying. "I can tell you anything you want to know. If you let me live, I can be a great asset to you."

"Can you?" Lucifer said calmly. "OK, fine: tell me why Castiel decided to join the humans, then."

Jason laughed derisively. "He fell in love with a human, that's why."

Lucifer's jaw dropped. "Get outta here," he said, astonished. Out of all the things he could possibly have been told about his Angel Brother, that one wouldn't have even cracked the Top 20. "Castiel? The original tight-ass? The human-hating, lemon-sucking prig? THAT Castiel?"

"Do you know of another one?" Jason said sarcastically.

Vincent was looking curiously at Lucifer. Satan hated it when anyone talked to him like that. The two of them had that in common. Then why wasn't Lucifer vapourizing the guy?

It was because Satan had the feeling that Jason might be a veritable fountain of information. But he wasn't going to be a pushover, either. Lucifer was glad. He needed the challenge.

"Can you deliver Castiel and Gabriel to me?" he asked Jason, and Jason shrugged. "What's it worth to you?"

Lucifer smiled. "Have a seat, and we'll talk." He waved his hand, and Jason was sitting in an armchair next to Vincent, holding a glass of wine.

"What about me?" Metatron wailed, and Lucifer smiled again. He looked at Vincent. "Have you got any good tricks up your sleeve for this one?" the Devil asked the Voodoo Priest, gesturing to the Scribe. Then he looked at John and Azazel. "You did good, guys. Help yourselves to my harem, and stand by for further instructions."

By the time the Demons left the library, Metatron's screams could be heard reverberating through the corridors of the house.

Crowley was out there too, but he had been ignoring Lucifer's summons. No one summoned the King of Hell; not even the Devil, himself. Lucifer seemed to be under the impression that Crowley should be at his beck and call. Well, he wished Lucifer a lot of luck with that.

The King had spies in the mansion, and they informed him that Jason had joined Lucifer's side now, supplanting Vincent as Satan's sidekick. Jason and Lucifer were now thick as thieves, and they were conspiring to go after Castiel, not Raphael. Crowley couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was Raphael and his bloody flock of Angel warriors who were the real threat. Just because Jason was all pouty since his divorce from Castiel, that didn't mean that he should forget who the more formidable enemy was in this situation.

Crowley didn't relish the idea of Raphael winning the war. Frankly, the King didn't give a flying fig about Lucifer, or Vincent, or Azazel, or any of them. He would be well shot of Lucifer. The Devil thought that he was the King of everything, but he was as useless as tits on a bull, in Crowley's view. He coasted through life on reputation alone, and even though he had prodigious powers, he seldom lifted a finger on his own behalf. Lucifer reminded Crowley of one of those rich, entitled, spoilt brats who seemed to think that everything was their due, simply because they existed. Lucifer had been a sodding Angel, though, hadn't he? So when exactly had he become Crowley's burden to bear?

The King hated to admit it; he really, truly did. But if he wanted Raphael to lose, and if he wanted Lucifer to lose, that left him with only one other option. But at least he had a choice as to which of the two he would be able to better stomach for the length of time it took to cut the deal.

Gabriel popped himself over to the meeting place, regarding Crowley with suspicion. "YOU want to do a deal with US?" he said incredulously. "Why?"

"I have my reasons," the King said coolly. "All you need to know is that this is the deal of a lifetime I'm offering you. If Castiel will agree to leave me and my designates in peace, I will order my minions to begin slaughtering Lucifer's minions. Then, we will stand against Raphael and his Angels. Then the three of us will kill Lucifer's lieutenants. And then, when Satan is the last man standing, the two of you will go into the High Office and get the key to that shiny new cage I've got in the bowels of Hell, and we will encage Lucifer in it, and have done with it. In return, Castiel will promise to leave me and my Kingdom alone, when he resumes the Office. What do you say?"

"I say I'll have to talk it over with him," Gabriel said warily. "I say I'm wondering what the catch is."

"No catch," Crowley said casually. "Maybe I'm just nostalgic for the way things used to be. Me in my Kingdom, Castiel in his, and you at the local, for Happy Hour. There are way too many players cluttering up the chessboard right now."

Gabriel nodded. "You know, when you put it that way, I could almost believe you. But I still have to run it by Castiel, first. You won't mind if I call him and ask him to attend our little confab here, will you?"

Crowley sighed heavily. He supposed he couldn't blame Gabriel for his mistrust. It wasn't as if they didn't all have a rich history of hatred and betrayal between them. But he had really been hoping not to have to look at his brother's arrogant, holier-than-thou face today, if he could help it. Still, Gabriel was doing exactly what Crowley would do, if he were in the same position.

"Fine. Call him," the King said, sighing.

A moment later, Castiel appeared. He had his blade in his hand, a fact that didn't surprise Crowley in the least. He couldn't recall a meeting with his brother that didn't result in weaponry being brandished. No, it wasn't the blade that made the King's eyebrows rise. It was the fact that Castiel was holding hands with a diminutive human woman, with big, brown eyes.


	3. She Drives Me Crazy

Chapter 2 - She Drives Me Crazy

Before Gabriel had called Cas to come to the meeting place, Cas and Gail had been having what was for them a very intimate conversation.

As soon as she'd gotten back to the headquarters, Gail had made a beeline for Cas. As usual, he was on the gym floor, doing drills with some of the Angels who had recently deserted Raphael's troops. Cas and Gabriel had promised amnesty to anyone who would come to join them, while warning the new arrivals that spies would not be tolerated. But it seemed as though everyone crossing over was sincere about not wanting to help Raphael kill any more humans. It was just a shame that more of them did not feel that way, Cas had fretted. The latest intel suggested that neither Raphael's nor Lucifer's side were pulling ahead, but in the meantime, the Earth was being destroyed, and the humans were getting caught up in the struggle. Soon, it might not even matter whether it was the Angels or the Demons who won. Soon, mankind might be a distant memory no matter how tenaciously his group fought.

Still, Cas smiled when he saw Gail coming towards him. He always smiled when he saw her. When he became tired of fighting a mostly losing battle, he would look at her open, trusting expression, and his faith that he was finally on the right path would be renewed.

But her expression was serious now as she approached him. "Cas, we have to talk, now."

"Uh-oh," Frank wisecracked. "Cas is in the doghouse."

Cas's forehead wrinkled as he grabbed a towel. "What would the abode of a canine have to do with anything?" he asked Gail's brother. Most of the human men laughed, but some of the longer-serving Angels wore puzzled expressions, too.

Despite the shock she had just received, Gail's lips twitched at that. In some ways, she missed the innocent Cas, in the current era. Now that she'd remembered it all, she knew that he was seldom flummoxed by slang any more. It had been a really cute aspect of his personality that she'd liked, a lot.

But she wouldn't miss his current persona, if and when they got out of this reality intact. He was gentle and kind with her and with all of their friends, but Gail now knew that her husband had been a different sort of individual than they were all used to seeing, different than the one they had met at the Rogue Angel. He had been cruel, imperious, and prejudiced against humans. That was the Castiel that he'd told her he had become when God had sent him back to Heaven as punishment for defying His orders in Nazi Germany. It was a good thing that he'd realized he loved her, because Gail would never have been able to love that Castiel.

As Gail followed Cas into the office that adjoined the gym so that they could talk privately, a couple of things occurred to her. The first thing was that the setup they had here reminded her a lot of that first Academy class that Cas had taught in Heaven. Who would have ever thought that she would miss those days? But she did, so badly that it was a physical ache in her heart and in her stomach. Things had seemed so simple back then. Good was Good, and Evil was Evil. But now, with the extra component of Raphael and his troops of Angels attempting to exterminate the human race and take the planet for their own, things had gotten a lot more complicated. According to Cas, that scenario would be no less horrifying as if Lucifer's side were to win. But there was a lot more than that on Gail's mind. It went even bigger than that, didn't it? Wasn't the architect of this whole mess really God, Himself?

Cas was looking at her expectantly, but now that she had seen him here, Gail had no idea what to say. He was toweling the sweat from his face and neck now, and then he tossed the towel on the desk. His hair was sticking up, and the urge to laugh and accuse him of having "sex hair" was so strong that she had to bite the insides of her cheeks to keep from saying it. This version of Cas wouldn't understand, and she was pretty sure that he wouldn't approve.

The reason she was tongue-tied now was because of the second thing that had occurred to her. This version of Cas was also exactly who they needed right now. This would be the worst possible time to muddle up his head. Her Cas would be liable to feel waves of emotion if he were to realize what was really going on here, and they needed him to be on his game.

"What is it, Gail?" Cas asked her, with a touch of impatience in his voice.

"I just wanted to thank you for everything you've been doing for all of us," she said to him. "And, to tell you that I love you. I know we don't say that too often, so I just wanted to say that to you, now."

Cas opened his mouth to respond, but before he got the chance, Sam poked his head in the door. "Sorry to interrupt, but you need to see this, Cas," he said, and his expression was grim.

Cas strode out of the office, with a frustrated Gail following close behind. Dammit! She had still been debating with herself whether she wanted to tell him, or not. Or, more accurately, if she should. But now, she'd missed her chance, anyway.

A horrifying sight awaited them. There had been a loud, thumping sound up on the roof, and Dean and Tommy had gone up there to investigate. They had discovered the dead body of a young black girl. There was a shocked look on her face, and an Angel blade was driven deep into her chest, pinning a note addressed to Castiel there. The note was curiously devoid of blood. That was because Vincent had bled his follower dry before giving her to Azazel, to deposit at Castiel's headquarters. Lucifer knew where they were holed up, of course. He'd known all along. Vincent had asked him why they didn't just go in there and annihilate each and every one of those rebels, and Lucifer had smiled at the Voodoo Priest indulgently. Now, what fun would THAT be?

Cas looked down at the young woman's body dispassionately. He had no idea who she was. That fact, and the method of delivery of the corpse, suggested to him that she had been one of the enemy, used so ill to deliver a message. He felt nothing for the girl. She had chosen her side, hadn't she?

He crouched beside the corpse, grabbed the Angel blade by the hilt, and pulled it out. Then Cas unfolded and read the note: "Your little human girlfriend will be next, if you don't surrender within 24 hours. Your Brother, Raphael."

Cas straightened up, his blood boiling. He had no way of knowing that Jason had cooked up this little scheme to set up a confrontation between the Angels. Lucifer had to admit that it had been a stroke of brilliance. If Castiel succeeded in killing Raphael, that would be a big plus for their side. Angels were sheep; without their General, they would founder. And if Raphael killed Castiel, their former Brother would be removed from the field of play. His little band of rebels had actually killed more of Lucifer's side than he was willing to admit. Either way, it would be a win for their side.

Before Castiel could even think of a way to articulate his rage, though, there came the message from Gabriel, over their frequency. The King of Hell was proposing a deal, and the Archangel thought it was worth a listen.

Cas let out a frustrated breath. What was Crowley trying to pull? But Castiel had to at least hear what Crowley had to say, especially if Gabriel thought he should. Cas looked at Gail. With both himself and Gabriel gone, she was far too vulnerable here, with only humans and lesser Angels for protection. This could be a setup. So he did the only thing he could do: he grabbed Gail by the hand and winked them both out of the building.

"Who is this fetching creature?" the King of Hell asked Cas, eyeing Gail. She rolled her eyes. Wow. Apparently, Crowley was obnoxious in any reality. He moved forward now, extending his hand to her. Predictably enough, Cas growled, "Stay away from her."

"Take it easy, Mama Bear," Crowley said, his lips twitching. "I am merely attempting to make the acquaintance of this remarkable young lady. Are you certain she's a human? Because she would have to have the patience of a Saint to put up with you."

"It's OK, Cas," Gail said, stepping up to take Crowley's hand. Now that she knew who and what they all were, he didn't intimidate her. She let the King take her hand. He kissed it lightly, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes once again. Yuk. She wondered if his so-called charm worked on more gullible women.

"Let's get straight to business," Cas said abruptly. "What is your proposal?"

Crowley frowned. "Obviously, having a girlfriend hasn't exactly improved your sunny disposition. Fine." He outlined the deal that he had proposed to Gabriel.

But Castiel was shaking his head. "I propose a counter-offer," he said, tight-lipped. "If you and your legion will join with me and mine, we will kill Raphael immediately, and any Angel that pledges allegiance to him. THEN, we will deal with Lucifer and his men."

Both Crowley and Gabriel were open-mouthed. "Uh...can I talk to you for a minute?" Gabe said to Cas. He grabbed Cas by the arm and they moved away from where Crowley and Gail were standing.

"Are you nuts?!" Gabriel exclaimed.

Crowley cleared his throat. "I can still hear you, you know," he said affably.

Gabe ignored him. "What the hell are you doing, Cas?" he said in a quieter voice. "Are you really gonna team up with HIM, to wipe out our own brethren?"

"Raphael forfeited any right to call himself our Brother when he mobilized upon the Earth," Cas said stiffly.

Gabriel eyed him. "True, but..." He peered closer at Cas's face. "What did I miss?"

Cas sighed. He began to tell the Archangel about the threat to Gail that he believed had come from Raphael.

As the Angels were conversing, Crowley was smiling pleasantly at Gail. He'd warned them that he could hear what they were saying. But clearly, Castiel didn't want to let the girl out of his sight. Which was completely understandable, of course. Anyone who wanted to get to Castiel could just simply seize this little bitty thing with her big brown eyes, and torture her a little. Or, a lot. Crowley knew his brother very well. He had shown up here holding hands with this woman. Holding hands. For a sanctimonious, uptight individual like Castiel, to be holding a woman's hand in public was tantamount to undressing her and mounting her, right here.

Crowley smirked at his own wit, and he was also amused because he knew something that none of them did: Raphael hadn't sent the threat. Lucifer had. But now, Castiel was coming in hot, asking for Crowley's help to wipe out battalions upon battalions of Angels? How on earth could the King of Hell turn down an opportunity like that?

"Don't worry, sweetheart. We won't let that big, bad Angel harm a hair on your head," Crowley assured Gail, looking pointedly at Castiel. "Or Raphael, either."

She barked out a laugh. Dammit! He'd surprised it out of her. But now, he was looking at her speculatively. "You're not afraid of me, are you?"

Gail shrugged. "No, I'm not."

"Why not?" Crowley asked with frank curiosity.

But before she had the chance to even formulate a plausible answer to that question, Cas and Gabriel had come back. Gabe's lips were pressed so tightly together they had almost disappeared.

"We have a deal," Cas told Crowley.

That deal was the beginning of the real End Times. Sam and Dean, Cas and Gail had talked about eschatology back on Kilimanjaro before their world had gone to pieces, but none of them had had any clue what that had truly meant. Demons, humans and Angels alike banded together to slay Angels, and the Earth ran red with blood. The tide started to turn, and when there were only a handful of Raphael's troops left, many of them surrendered to Castiel, and Raphael was taken prisoner.

The Archangel was defiant as Castiel and Gabriel entered the room where he was being held. The ancient sigils decorated the walls, and as an extra precaution, Castiel had brought the Seal of God. If Raphael tried to escape or to fight, he would be vapourized instantly. Cas wished he would try.

"Have you got anything to say, before we decide what to do with you?" Castiel said coldly.

"What do you want me to say?" Raphael retorted in an angry voice. "You're the one who made a deal with Demons to sell out your own kind. You're the one who has killed untold numbers of your own Brothers and Sisters."

"How about all of the humans YOU killed?" Cas shouted. "What about THEM?"

"There was a time when you would no more have cared about the insects that crawled all over this planet than you would care about slaying Demons," Raphael said contemptuously. "Now, you kowtow to humans, and make Unholy pacts with the King of Hell. You should be ashamed of yourself. Father would be disgusted if He could see you now."

"You have spent months roaming the Earth, destroying Father's creations," Cas pointed out. "I think it's YOU who would disgust Him."

Raphael looked at Gabriel, who had remained silent throughout the whole exchange. "You have been very quiet, my Brother," Raphael said to Gabriel. "How do you feel about the arrangement Castiel has made with the denizens of Hell?"

Gabe frowned. "Not great, to tell you the truth," he admitted. "But, let me tell you something. You and all those self-righteous bigots have it all wrong. When I used to go to the bar for Happy Hour, I had the chance to get to know a lot of humans." This would normally be the point where he would waggle an eyebrow and state that he'd gotten to know a number of female humans very, very well, but Gabriel refrained. He only joked around with his friends, and besides, he had a point he wanted to make, now.

Gabriel cleared his throat, and began again: "Humans are just like we are, Raphael," he stated. "I know you're going to scoff at that, but it's true, nonetheless. In fact, you could almost argue that they're better than we are. They're just here on this planet, doing the best they can to survive under nearly impossible circumstances. They eat, and sleep, and laugh, and love. They work hard all their short, miserable little lives, or at least most of them do, just so they can scrape together enough money to live. And then, by the time they find themselves in a position to finally take it easy and enjoy everything they've worked so hard for, Dad gives them cancer, or Alzheimer's, or one of about a million other little delights He's got in His bag of dirty tricks. I talked to a guy once who was finally able to retire after seventy years of working like a dog. Seventy years, when the average human lifespan for a man is about seventy-eight years old. And if that concept isn't bad enough to wrap your head around, he told me that he and his wife were going to take up a hobby together, now that they had the free time. Great. Good for them. Then I saw him again, a couple of weeks later. I asked him how his retirement was going. And you know what he told me? He told me his wife died. She died! The poor bastard was finally able to spend some quality time with his wife, and then our loving and compassionate Father decides to give her one of those diseases. You know what? I know what everybody says about me: that I'm a drunken, pleasure-seeking womanizer, et cetera, et cetera. But I would give just about anything I have to fall in love, and to be loved in return. You and Lucifer can fight over this ball of dirt called Earth all you want, but none of it means anything without love." He grabbed God's Seal from Cas's hand, advancing on Raphael. "And that's why you're about to be executed, 'Brother'. You forgot what this whole thing is supposed to be all about, or maybe you never even knew in the first place. I don't approve of the deal Castiel made, but I'll stand with him, each and every time. And you know why?" Gabriel held the Seal high, getting ready to strike. "Because, at the end of the day, he demonstrates what most of us only talk about. He loves God, and he loves God's creations. Yeah, I'm talking about humans. You should never have threatened to kill Gail."

Gabriel started to bring down his hand, the one with God's Seal in it. Once it touched Raphael's skin and Castiel and Gabriel spoke together, invoking the Lord's name, Raphael would suffer great pain, and then he would die.

But Gabriel's hand paused when Raphael said, "I didn't."

"What?" Cas said sharply.

"I didn't threaten to kill Gail," Raphael repeated calmly. "I don't know where you got that impression. Go ahead and have your human, Castiel. Marry her, even. It won't matter, anyway. Once Crowley betrays you, all of your humans will die at Lucifer's feet. Go ahead and kill me. I will not live in a world where Lucifer is King."

Raphael was bound and handcuffed to the chair, but his legs were free. He extended one of his legs now, and he used it to pull Gabriel towards him. His fellow Archangel was caught completely by surprise. Gabe fell on top of Raphael, and when he did, his hand came down and God's Seal burned itself into Raphael's forehead.

Gabriel scrambled off of Raphael immediately, dropping the Seal on the floor. But it was already too late. Raphael started to scream in utter agony as the pattern that had been etched into his forehead glowed. Gabriel looked on in horror as Raphael continued to writhe and scream, and scream and writhe. Now there was an acrid odour, a foul stench that signaled the start of the immolation of Raphael's flesh.

Castiel was sickened by the smell, and he was shocked by what Raphael had said. Normally, he would have simply assumed that Raphael was lying. But it was impossible to lie in the presence of God's Seal. That could only mean one thing: If Raphael hadn't issued the threat, then Lucifer had. It was Lucifer who had lied, signing Raphael's name to the threat because he knew that Castiel would then concentrate on bringing Raphael and his army of Angels to their knees. And now that that had been accomplished, Lucifer would be free to take the Earth, virtually unopposed. All thanks to Castiel.

And then came the worst news of all. There was a pounding on the door of the interrogation room, and Frank shouted, "Cas! Lucifer's got Gail!"

VIGNETTE - STRAIGHT UP

"Wait a minute," Death said to God. "I thought you said that you were bringing about the End of Times. The Cleansing."

"That's what I did say, yes," God replied calmly. "That is why I gave Lucifer his page of the Book of Life."

"And now, he has won," Death remarked.

"It would appear so," God said, shrugging.

Death was eyeing Him suspiciously. While it wouldn't be the first time the Father had employed such methods, Death didn't truly believe that the total annihilation of the Earth was the endgame, here. But then, what was? God had punished Castiel, and then He had punished Gail. But then He had returned them to the Earth and to each other, and reunited them with most of the friends and family they had had before. However, then, He had slowly started to dismantle everything again. He had taken Gail away from Castiel twice now, once by death, and now, by abduction. He had given Sam and Dean Winchester wives and children, and then taken all but Nicole away from the brothers. Frank and Jody were together for now, as were Barry and Tommy, but if things kept going the way they had been, soon those relationships would be torn asunder by blood. Many of Castiel and Gail's family who were supposed to be dead were now dead again, or soon would be. Or, they had never even existed in the first place. So what had been the purpose of this whole exercise? The punishments had already been meted out. Was it simply as Gail had said, when she had had her fit of anger on the mountain? Was God just demonstrating His dominion over His children? That didn't seem like Him, though, in Death's opinion. The two ancient entities had known each other since before all existence had begun, and Death knew there was so much more to the Almighty than the qualities He was demonstrating now. Anything that God did, even the wrathful destruction that He had wrought in the past, had always been from love. Castiel's friends and family accused the Angel of being too intense about many things, and that was certainly true, because the apple hadn't fallen too far from the tree, in this case. God's children were flawed because He Himself was flawed. Longer-serving, high-ranking Angels were fervent because God Himself was fervent. When the Almighty rained down death and destruction upon His creations, He usually did so because they had disappointed Him. Broken His heart. Much like a child will upend the board game, if things aren't going his way. That was obviously what He was doing now. But then, inevitably, the board game would be set back up again. Of course it would. Because the alternative was nothingness, and no one wanted that, not even Death. Everyone had to have a purpose. Everyone.

"Lucifer has abducted Gail before," Death said, with dry sarcasm. "You're being a little redundant here, don't you think?"

God regarded him for a moment. Just as Death knew God, God knew Death, too. Death was also a flawed individual, and much more emotional than he would ever let on. Death expected everyone and everything to fall neatly in line, and when that did not happen, he became angry. Life was messy and imperfect, and sometimes, death was, too. The individual who the latter was named for had never understood that, just as he had never understood that there were varying degrees of death. There was death of the physical being, of course, but there were also deaths of the soul, and of the spirit. It wasn't falling down that was the problem; it was how many times a person could get back up again. How much was too much?

"We'll see," God said noncommittally, as Castiel rushed out of the interrogation room to confront Lucifer's messenger.

VIGNETTE - MY PREROGATIVE

They winked themselves outside to the grounds of the college campus for a private talk.

"You don't seem surprised," Crowley said to Cas calmly.

"That's because I'm not," Cas replied tonelessly. "I would have done the same thing, myself."

Crowley smirked. "Well, you're honest. I'll give you that much."

"What does he want?" Cas asked his brother.

"What do you think he wants?" the King of Hell responded. "He wants to rule it all."

"And you're just going to bow down to him?" Cas said skeptically. "That doesn't seem like you."

"I bow down to no one," Crowley said, with a bit of an edge to his voice now. "I said, he WANTS to rule it all. I didn't say he was going to GET to."

Cas sighed. "Either way, what will it take for me to get her back unharmed?"

Gail was wondering the same thing now, as Lucifer came into the room where she was being held. This was ridiculous, she thought. It was deja vu, all over again. What was it going to take for them to be rid of this guy, finally rid of him, once and for all?

"I know, right?" the Evil entity said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm the original bad penny, aren't I? I just keep on turning up." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the page from the Book of Life that God had given him, back at Kilimanjaro. "And the beauty of it is, I didn't even have to do anything with this. You all played your parts perfectly. Death Squads, Part II. The Sequel. Except this time, it was a lot more Biblical. One brother betrayed the other, and a bunch of Angels died. Or, what I would call a happy ending. Now, we've got the damsel in distress. Will the hero rescue her in the second-last reel of the movie? But then, what if he does? What will happen to them next? The world as they knew it is gone, and so is most of their family. How much is too much, Gail? How much will you have to endure, before you finally lose your damn mind? How do you know you haven't, already?"

"If you tell me that this whole thing has just been in my mind this entire time, I'm going to punch you right in the face," Gail fumed.

Lucifer laughed. "No, I can assure you, this has all been quite real."

Gail sighed. "Great. So, where do we go from here?"

"Ask your husband, or whatever the hell he is, nowadays," Satan said, shrugging. He waved his hands and suddenly, Cas and Crowley were standing beside him. Gail was thrilled to see Cas, of course, but her heart sank when she saw Crowley.

"Of course," she said to the King. "Of course it was you who betrayed Cas."

"Why isn't anybody ever surprised by that?" the King of Hell said sardonically. "I think I need a new press agent."

"No, what you need is to stop stabbing people in the back!" Gail yelled.

"Good luck with this one," Crowley said to Cas, nodding his head towards Gail. "She's awfully feisty, for an inferior specimen."

"She's not inferior at all," Cas said softly. "She's a far better individual than I'll ever be."

"Awww, isn't that sweet," Lucifer said with sarcastic humour. "We should have gotten that on tape. Nobody'll ever believe he actually said that." He looked at Crowley. "Let's leave these two crazy kids to talk alone for a minute. Once they make their decisions, we'll pick up where we left off."

Lucifer and Crowley popped out of the room, and Cas rushed to Gail. "Are you all right?" he said, putting his arms around her. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," she responded, holding him tightly. She'd been really scared. They stood there like that for a moment, and then Gail pulled out of the embrace. "What did he mean, 'make our decisions'?"

Cas let out a breath. "Come here," he said, taking her by the hand. There was a small couch against the back wall of the room, and he sat them down on it. Well, at least this was an improvement from the dark, cold stone cell where Lucifer had held her the last time she was his prisoner, Gail thought dryly. Soon, if he kept on abducting her, she would be in a deluxe suite, with a butler or two, maybe.

Cas gave Gail's hands a squeeze. He didn't know how much time they had, but there was something he wanted to say to her now, before it was too late. "For all of my existence, I knew there was more," Cas began. "I was conditioned to believe a certain way, so I did. I was trained to behave in a certain way, and so I did. God shaped me into a cruel despot, no better than Adolf Hitler."

Gail looked at him sharply. Out of all the names he could have used, why had he used that one in particular? Or was it just a coincidence? That was the one name people always invoked when they wanted to refer to the worst of the worst.

"I killed thousands upon thousands of Angels," Cas confessed. "I became a paranoid, heartless individual. My Brothers and Sisters all feared and despised me. If I'd been a different sort of leader, Raphael would never have been able to rise to power. The deaths of all the humans his army killed are on my hands. I knew that Crowley was not going to honour his end of the bargain. I took the deal because I wanted all of those Angels dead, as punishment for killing Father's creations. But now, we're left with this. Lucifer has won. I'm sorry, Gail. I failed you, in every way possible. The decisions he's talking about are simple: We get to choose which way we would prefer to die."

Cas took his Angel blade out of his pocket and held it up. Oh, God. Gail felt sick to her stomach, but she also knew that he was right. They would never be able to serve Lucifer.

Cas put his other arm around Gail and pulled her close to him, holding the blade firmly between them. "You'll hardly feel it," he promised her. "It'll be just like a pinprick, or the sting of a bee. Then, I'll follow. I love you, Gail."

"I love you too, Cas," she said. "Do me a favour? Kiss me while you're doing it. A really good kiss, like you gave me back in the bar, the day we met." A couple of tears squeezed out of her eyes and dribbled down her cheeks. "Like you gave me at our wedding."

Cas was startled, but then he smiled warmly. What a lovely thought to end on. He would fantasize about that too, when he was releasing his essence. What a wonderful way that would be to leave this existence.

He kissed her, but just as he started to push the blade gently into her, Lucifer and Crowley popped back into the room. "Nice try, Romeo," the Devil said dryly. He waved his little finger, and the couple moved apart. "This little party is only over when I say it's over. I'm the boss around here, not you, Castiel."

"And, I'm the King," Crowley said. He snapped his fingers, and the page of the Book of Life that God had given to Lucifer suddenly appeared in Crowley's hand. "Plot twist. Here, Cas. Catch." The page folded itself into a paper airplane and flew over to Cas, who caught it neatly. "Remember our deal," Crowley said to his brother. He grabbed a shocked Lucifer by the arm, and they both disappeared again. Cas grinned briefly. Then he pocketed the page and his blade and grabbed Gail's hand, winking her away.

VIGNETTE - IT TAKES TWO

While Castiel and Gail were gone from their headquarters, Gabriel was pacing the floor, livid. Boy, it was a good thing for Crowley that Gabe had left God's Seal back on the floor of the interrogation room, or he would be one very dead King of Hell right now. So, Crowley had betrayed them. Quelle surprise. Why did Cas think that Gabriel had been so reluctant to make the deal in the first place?

The Archangel stopped his pacing and grabbed Ethan by the front of his shirt. "I want you and Isaac to go out there and find what's left of Raphael's army. You tell them that Castiel and I are their leaders now, and they have new marching orders. They are to go to every corner of the Earth, and slaughter as many Demon bastards as they can. And if for any inexplicable reason they refuse, you are to kill them where they stand. If anyone finds any of the major players on Lucifer's side, they are to summon me immediately."

"What about Cas and Gail?" Frank asked the Archangel.

Gabriel looked at him for a moment. "Uhhhh...what ABOUT them?" he asked Gail's brother.

"Shouldn't we be mounting a rescue operation?" Frank persisted.

The Archangel gave him an indulgent look. Humans. "Well, aren't you cute," he said dryly. "And just where do you suggest that we GO for this rescue operation? Don't you think, if I had any idea where Lucifer's compound was, we'd be storming over there right now?"

Frank let out a frustrated breath. OK, the guy had a point. "Okay, then we just torture the crap out of any of those black-eyed bastards we come across, until they give it to us. How about that?"

Gabe gave him a half-shrug. "Fine. Let's go, then," he said to the Angels and humans who were in his charge. He could understand where Frank was coming from, but Gail's brother was just deluding himself. This was wartime, not an action movie starring some impossibly tanned and muscled human being. Castiel and Gabriel had already talked about this type of scenario. Neither of them could ever consider enslavement by Lucifer to be an option, and Castiel could never allow Gail to be taken to Lucifer's harem, of course. The men had no illusions about what would happen to her there. Death would be far more preferable. No; all they were going to find when they stormed into Lucifer's lair were a bunch of evil vermin and two very dead lovers, who had deserved a much better fate.

But in the meantime, the survivors had work to do. "You coming?" Frank said to the Winchesters, cinching his weapons belt tight. Those bastards were gonna regret messing with Frank's family. Jody looked at him with a grim smile. She had never had any real family of her own in this reality, so she could only imagine how he was feeling right now. But if there was even a chance that they could get Cas and Gail back alive, that would be a big win for their side. And Lord knew they could use one of those.

"Go ahead," Dean said to Gail's brother. "I've gotta see a man about a horse." He took Nicole's hand. "Go with Gabriel. He'll keep you safe. Me and Sam will see you in a minute."

Sam shrugged, nodding towards his sibling. "Buddy system," he said by way of explanation. "We'll catch up."

Everyone filed out of the headquarters, and when the two brothers were the only ones left in the building, Sam turned to Dean. "What'd you have in mind?" he asked his older brother.

A short while later, the Winchesters were quickly and quietly picking their way through the rubble in the streets. They had encountered small pockets of enemies along the way, but it had been nothing that they couldn't handle.

But Sam was puzzled. "Why is it so quiet?" he asked his brother with suspicion. "Shouldn't there be more..."

"More what, Sammy?" Dean asked him, kicking a couple of smaller chunks of concrete aside.

"I dunno. Just...more," Sam said, thoughtful. "And don't call me Sammy. I hate that."

"No, you don't," Dean told his brother, and Sam sighed. No, he guessed he didn't, not really. It certainly beat the alternative.

"Sometimes, I wonder what the point of all of this is," Dean said suddenly. "What are we even fighting for, anymore? If Demons or Angels or whoever want this stupid planet, maybe we should just let them have it. Pollution, disease, war, global warming...it's not like it's a freakin' paradise, here."

"They killed our kids, Dean," Sam said softly. "They killed Quinn."

"I know that!" Dean said angrily. "Don't you think I know that? Not one damn day goes by that I don't replay that day over and over, in my head! What did I do wrong? What should I have done differently? I didn't protect our family, Sam. That was my job, and I failed."

"You're not the only one who failed," Sam agonized, tears springing to his eyes. "I lost everything, that day."

"Not everything," Dean assured his younger brother. "You still have us. We still have each other." He clapped his brother on the shoulder. "That's gotta count for something."

Sam pulled Dean to him for a hug. "Awww, geez," Dean said softly, but he hugged Sam back just as fiercely.

"Well, well. Isn't this a touching sight," Azazel said sarcastically. He had suddenly appeared on the street ahead, in the direction to which the brothers were heading. They were closer to Lucifer's headquarters than they knew, and he couldn't pass up the chance to mess with them a bit more. "How are you, boys?"

Both Winchesters were seething. "Why did you kill our kids?!" Sam yelled at the yellow-eyed Demon.

Azazel shrugged. "Because I could," he stated. "And, because, I was owed."

"I don't know what you mean by that, and I don't even want to know," Sam said between gritted teeth. He went to his belt for the Demon knife and advanced on Azazel, brandishing it in his hand. "Come on, you coward. Let's see if you're as good at fighting grown men as you are at beating up women and children."

Azazel rolled his eyes. "You do realize that I can vapourize you with one little flick of my finger, right?"

"Then do it," Sam said with barely controlled anger. He stood right in front of the former Prince of Hell, holding the Demon knife aloft.

"Stand down, Sam," Dean instructed his brother. "We've seen what this douchebag can do." He moved forward, standing between Azazel and his brother, looking at the yellow-eyed Demon with a crooked smile. "I don't know what my brother is thinking," Dean went on. "We all know a simple Demon knife can't kill somebody like you."

"That's right," Azazel said arrogantly.

"No, he shouldn't have a Demon knife," Dean said conversationally. "He should have one of these." He took God's Seal out of his pocket and sprang forward, grabbing Azazel and pressing the Seal against his face. "Fry, you Demon son of a bitch!" Dean yelled. "Nobody messes with our family! Not now, not ever!"

Azazel was screaming at the top of his lungs now, but there was no one to hear him. Lucifer and his supposed allies were all otherwise occupied at the moment. And even if they hadn't been, none of them would have risked themselves for Azazel, anyway. He was just a cheap thug, a Demon who Crowley had kicked out of Hell years ago for the crime of thinking that he was more than he actually was. The Demon who had started Sam and Dean Winchester on their path was a relic from the past, a boogeyman whose reboot was done.

Dean and Sam exchanged grim smiles of satisfaction as Azazel turned to ashes, and then they went looking for the rest of their group.

VIGNETTE - LIKE A PRAYER

Rowena had been hearing the screams for the better part of an hour now, and she had been on the verge of tearing her flaming red tresses right out of her scalp when, mercifully, they had finally stopped.

Shortly thereafter, Jason emerged from the corridor which led down to the servants' quarters. He had blood on his hands and face, but strangely enough, none on his clothing. Rowena frowned. Come to think of it, maybe that wasn't strange, at all. Whatever it was he had been doing to that poor girl, he must have been doing it with his clothes off. The witch felt nauseous.

"How you can call yourself an Angel is beyond me," she said to him.

Jason smiled coldly. "I don't know where people ever got the idea that Angels are supposed to be synonymous with Saints," he said, approaching her. "Or worse, with chubby little babies, sitting on clouds and playing harps. Now, come over here, and clean me up."

Rowena's lips tightened, but she moved to him obediently. If Lucifer were to hear that she had refused to assist his lieutenant...well, suffice it to say that she didn't want to find out what would happen. Placida had snapped the other day and cursed Jason out, and all that Lucifer had done was look at the woman. Then, seconds later, her flesh had rotted right off of her face, and then her body had exploded. Literally. Exploded. Then Lucifer had giggled and said something vulgar to Vincent, telling the Voodoo Priest to clean up his mess. Then, Satan had clapped a hand on Jason's shoulder and said that Jason could buy him a drink to thank him, leaving a fuming Vincent behind. Rowena had been careful to keep her expression neutral, but inside, she had been rejoicing. Those Voodoo people were the worst sort. Upstarts, who could do parlour tricks, but who lacked the training or the education to practice the ancient arts properly. They had no regard for Rowena, or for what she could do. About the only one of them that she had held out any hope for was Blaise. The girl was young and innocent, in a lot of ways, but she spoke to Rowena and Abbadon deferentially, with the proper respect. When the witch and the Demon left this place, they'd already agreed that they were going to take Blaise with them. Then all they would need was an Angel for their group and they would have the set, Rowena had joked.

She waved her hands over Jason now, cleaning the blood from his skin. He was looking down at her, smirking. "You don't like me very much, do you?"

Rowena bit the insides of her cheeks to keep herself from issuing a scathing retort. No. He wasn't going to get her that easily.

Jason went for a different tactic. "You know, I thought that Blaise wouldn't be such a noisy little thing. From what Vincent's told me, she's much more used to the rough stuff. More than a lot of you other spoiled princesses. Oh, well. It doesn't matter anymore, anyway. She's dead, now. After you're done cleaning me up, you can take her outside and leave her on the curb with the rest of the trash."

Rowena's blood was boiling. Who did this man think he was? Or, more importantly, who did he think he was dealing with?

She waved her hands faster over him, speaking the words of the spell: "Vian dem morte. No ideme rebatem."

Jason looked down at himself. "What are you doing? What's happening to me?"

"Nothing you don't deserve," Rowena said happily. She lifted her lead high as Jason fell to his knees, retching and choking. "Come in, dearie. You have to see this," the red-haired witch called out to Abbadon.

The Demon woman hurried around the corner. She'd been waiting out there this whole time, just in case her friend had needed her assistance. But, as usual, the diminutive witch had come out on top of the transaction. Moments later, Jason's essence had escaped his vessel. The women watched the process in fascination, but they made no move to preserve any of it. Even in their most toxic spells, they had no use for such a putrid ingredient.

Rowena looked down at Jason with an expression of utter contempt on her face. "Take him outside and leave him on the curb, with the other trash," she said to Abbadon, consciously mirroring what Jason had said about Blaise just a few minutes prior. But then she looked up at her friend and added, "Please."

Abbadon came over to where Rowena was standing, and she nodded. She would. Of course she would. Anything Rowena wanted. Rowena had been so good to her. So generous in sharing her knowledge of magic. Any number of Lucifer and Crowley's sexist bastards might be surprised that women could actually work together and cooperate with each other without tearing each other limb from limb.

"And then, you and I will pack our bags, and we'll leave this place," Rowena went on. "Lucifer's tyranny is nearly at an end."

Abbadon smiled. That was what she'd been hoping to hear. She leaned down and kissed her friend tenderly. "I'll be right back," the Demon told the witch. Then she crouched beside Jason's vessel, and then disappeared with it.

CASTIEL - FIGHT THE POWER

By the time Castiel and Gail reappeared in the park, he had made up his mind.

He reached into his pocket and took out the page from the Book of Life, regarding it reverently. This version of Castiel knew what it was too, of course. The Books were the stuff of legend. But, how had Lucifer gotten his hands on this, he wondered?

Oh, well. Castiel supposed it didn't really matter all that much. The important part was that Cas held it in his hand now, and the tide was about to turn.

"I will be the one to rule, now," he told Gail. "With this page, I can turn back the clock. I will go back to Heaven, and I will open up training schools, to teach the Angels how to fight properly. But we will also educate them on the worth and merits of humanity, and ensure they know that annexation is wrong. Once they are thus educated, we will return here, and wipe Lucifer and Crowley and their ilk from the face of the Earth, so you will never have to worry about them again."

"Ummm...I really hate to have to be the one to bring this up, but wasn't Crowley the one who just helped us?" Gail said. "I'm pretty sure he didn't put that page in your hand so you could turn around and use it to screw him."

"Why not? That is exactly what he did to me," Cas pointed out. "Why should I not return the favour, then?"

Gail let out a frustrated breath. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because we're supposed to be the good guys, here?" she said sarcastically. "Oh, and that's the other thing: What's with all this 'me' and 'I' stuff? I thought that we were a team."

Now it was Cas who was frustrated. "I must bring my armies to the Earth, and eradicate Evil. Surely, you must understand that."

"Boy, does THAT ever sound familiar," Gail said, rolling her eyes. "It didn't work out too well for you back then, either."

"What are you talking about?" Cas asked her. "You have said those kinds of strange things to me before. Is it supposed to be some sort of human joke that I'm not understanding?"

Gail regarded him with mixed emotions. How was it possible for someone to be so cute, yet so clueless, at the same time? But she wanted to nip this talk of a new war straight in the bud, right now. The way he was talking sounded way too much like the time Patricia had dosed Cas, infecting him with his obsession for a Holy War. This version of Cas was pretty much like that version, except that back then, Cas had let their past relationship influence him for the better, so he had stood down.

There was no point in delaying any longer. If she didn't act now, there might not be a tomorrow, for any of them.

"You told me you loved me, the very first night we met at the Rogue Angel. Do you remember that?" Gail began.

Cas smiled. "Yes, of course I do."

"Did you ever wonder WHY you loved me?" Gail pressed on. "We'd never met, before."

Cas thought for a moment, and then he nodded his understanding of what he thought she was trying to say. "Oh, yes. Frank told me about this," he said, pleased that he'd figured it out so quickly. "He said that women employ this tactic every once in a while. He called it 'fishing for compliments'. Now it's my job to say some complimentary things about you, and then you will be happy."

Gail rolled her eyes. Cas might need that Angel army to protect her brother, the next time she got a hold of him. But right now, she had to focus on the much larger picture: preventing yet another Holy War. That piece of paper in Cas's hand was their ticket out of this crapstorm.

"No, Cas," she said in a serious tone. "There's a lot more to it than that. Give me your hand."

He took Gail's hand gladly. Who would have ever thought that an individual such as himself would have been so fortunate as to find a woman who would let him hold her hand? Of course he loved her. How could he not?

But then, she did something that both thrilled and terrified Cas: she brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it tenderly, and then she put it on her head. "What are you doing?" he asked her in a trembling voice.

"I want you to search my mind," Gail told him.

Cas was astonished. "I couldn't...I can't..." he stammered. "That is such an intimate activity, and we're not even married, yet." Now, Cas was flustered for an additional reason. He had been intending to re-propose, but he had not done it. He had been so preoccupied with the war that he hadn't had the chance to even think about it. Was THAT why Gail was acting so strangely? Even though Castiel was unfamiliar with many human customs, as a male, he was aware that once a man entered into a relationship with a female, after a time, she had certain expectations. But she needn't worry. He was not the type of man who would hold her hand and then abandon her. No. Castiel was much more honourable than that. But he needed to win the war first, to make the world safe for her and her friends. Cas needed to bring that to the marriage, as a way of atoning for all of the terrible things he had done, prior to meeting Gail. This was his chance for redemption.

Cas started to pull his hand away, but Gail held on tight. "Please, Cas. Do this for me. Everything will make sense, once you do. Please," she implored him.

Castiel relented. He had no choice. Her eyes were wide and innocent, and she was gazing up at him with such longing. "All right, my love," he said softly, and a warmth spread through him. He had never called her that before, but he was definitely going to start doing so, now. He'd felt like the best part of himself when he'd said it, and Gail's eyes had lit up upon hearing it.

Cas touched his hand gently to Gail's forehead, and entered the house of her mind.

He walked into the front hallway, and then he looked around in astonishment. Gail's house was a jumbled combination of their house on Earth, the bunker's library area, Heaven, and Las Vegas. There was even a little bit of the house where she had grown up. Somehow it all worked, though.

As Cas walked slowly through it all, he was also amazed to see that each and every door to the rooms was wide open. He had searched many minds, but he had never seen one in this state before. Everyone he'd searched had something to hide. Everyone. But there were no secrets here. None at all.

Not only that, but everywhere Cas went, he saw himself. He was with Gail, Sam, and Dean, in a room that resembled a library. Cas smiled. His friends. But it was puzzling in another way, because he'd never seen this room before. How could Gail be reminiscing about a place she had never been? And Cas himself was dressed strangely. He was wearing a suit that was nice enough, but the tie was loose and appeared to be on backwards, and he was wearing a tan trenchcoat on top of it all, even though they were clearly indoors. Very odd.

He looked in another room, and there he saw himself and Gail on a bed. He had his arms around her, and they were watching television. They were both clad, but Castiel had a funny feeling when he observed them like that. A flutter in his stomach.

Then, another room with another memory. He and Gail were eating dinner, and having a glass of wine. But Angels didn't eat or drink. Yet they were both doing that here. He peered closer at Gail. Wait a moment...she was an Angel, too! What on earth was going on, here? Was Gail imagining being an Angel in order to make their being together easier for him? What a sweet thing for her to do.

"No, that's not it," Gail said, startling him. He looked down to see her, walking down the corridor beside him. Cas's mouth dropped open.

"I don't know why you're so surprised," Gail said to him. "I frequently come in here, for introspection. Don't you?"

All Cas could think of to do was nod. Yes, he did. But he'd thought he was the only one. He took her hand impulsively, and she smiled up at him.

"Isn't this funny?" Gail remarked softly, as they continued to walk down the hall. "Years ago, I would have thought that this was the strangest, most surreal experience I could ever have. Now, I'm not even sure if it would crack the Top Ten."

Cas was having trouble speaking. He was overcome with a multitude of different emotions. Was this how humans felt all the time? How did they get through life this way? How could they contain it all?

Gail looked up at him again. "I can see the light is dawning, but this is taking a wee bit too long," she said lightly. "We need to hurry up, before things get really out of hand." They stopped in front of the room she'd been leading him to. "In a nutshell, this is us," she told him. "After seeing this, you'll know the right way to use that page."

Cas stepped into the room, and the sights hit him like a wave. Las Vegas, the tribunal, the Tablet quests, their wedding, the election in Heaven. Parties and Christmases with their extended family. All the love. So much love. No Demons, no death, no violence. All of those things were in this house too, of course. All of the negative things were also part of who she was. Gail couldn't deny that. But she had herded them into one dark, remote room that she would only visit out of necessity, from time to time.

Cas was looking around everywhere, in sheer amazement. He smiled slowly, as memory after memory washed over him. The two of them, being Angels together. Travelling the world on important missions. Helping people. Doing what Angels were supposed to be doing. Castiel wasn't mentoring Gail on how to be an Angel; SHE was mentoring HIM. They had withstood every test that their Father had administered to them, and they had done it together.

He leaned down to kiss her, and she touched his face with both of her hands. "I know what we have to do with that page," Cas said softly.

Cas took his hand away from Gail's head, looking at her in wonderment. "I have never seen anything like that, not in all my years," he told her. "It's no wonder I love you so. We're not going to wage war, my darling. That's not who I am. Correction: that's not who WE are. We're going to take this page and use it to give our loved ones the kinds of lives they should have had, all along."

Gail was nodding. "Exactly. That's what we should have done, in the first place. Now that WE'RE okay, we need everybody else to be OK, too."

Cas took the page out of his pocket again and regarded it for a moment. He frowned slightly. "Maybe, just to be on the safe side..." He tore the page in half, slowly and carefully. "There. Now we have a failsafe. In the event that things do not turn out the way they should, we can then use the other half to return here. Agreed?"

Gail nodded. That was sensible enough. She was fervently hoping they wouldn't have to use that second half, but the two of them did have a proclivity for messing things up, even when they were trying to do the right thing.

Cas put the second half of the page back in his pocket for safekeeping, and took Gail's hand with the other. "Are you ready, my love?"

Gail took a deep breath. WAS she? Were they crazy for doing what it was that they were about to do? But, how could they NOT do it? Right now, the world was in ruins, and Lucifer was in charge. If they didn't do something to change that, they would all end up dead, or worse.

"I'm ready," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

Cas spoke a couple of phrases in the ancient language, and the half-page from the Book of Life glowed for a moment, then disappeared.


	4. Free Fallin'

Chapter 3 - Free Fallin'

Cas and Gail reappeared in the park an indeterminate amount of time later. Time was very fluid in these types of situations. They had been gone for years and years, yet everything here was exactly how they had left it.

Both of them were reeling at what they had just witnessed. How could it be? How could it be that the idyllic scenarios they had set up for their loved ones had all fallen apart so badly? So easily?

"Everything we've tried to do has turned into dust in our hands," Cas said dazedly.

Gail was just as stunned, and she was angry, too. "We tried to give Sam and Dean the happy family lives they should have always had, and it blew up in our faces. Again. We turned a blind eye when Frank tried so hard to get Jody back, because we wanted her back so badly, too. So then she did come back, because Frank ended up making a deal with Crowley, so now, Frank's in Hell! Again! Bobby's in jail, because he killed his abusive father, when he was a teenager. Chuck's an alcoholic. Kevin and Linda aren't even speaking to each other. Liz is stuck in a loveless marriage, with three kids who are going to grow up to learn that it's OK to hurt your wife, and betray her trust. And, Gabriel's son is the Anti-Christ!" she exclaimed, fuming. "You know what, Cas? I can hear Vincent somewhere, just laughing and laughing at us. He was right. He once said that he wouldn't have to lift a damn finger to screw us, that we would do it to ourselves. So now, our page is gone, and we're right back here. Again. The world where Lucifer has stomped all over the human race, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it."

She started to cry hot tears of frustration, and Cas held her close to him. The lone bright spot in all of this was that he remembered now who he and Gail had been together. But everything else here was the same as they had left it, including the fact that she was still a human. Not that that particular circumstance mattered to Cas; he didn't have that prejudice any more. But it just meant that she would be more vulnerable; harder to protect.

What were they going to do now? Keep fighting? They were vastly outnumbered, and the majority of their fighters were humans. And even if they miraculously were able to fight their way through to Lucifer himself, then what? Crowley had counted on Cas to use the page from the Book of Life the way that he had initially said that he was going to: to amass an army, and strike Lucifer down. But he hadn't done that, had he? Instead, he had used it to try to help their family. And how had that turned out? Just like everything Cas had ever tried to do, it had been an unmitigated disaster. That was why they'd had to come back here. But what was going to happen to them now?

"That's a good question," Lucifer said, appearing suddenly in front of the two of them. "What IS going to happen now?" He walked slowly towards them, clucking his tongue. "You know, if you wanted a favour, all you had to do was ask, Brother Castiel. I can be a team player. In fact, why don't we do this the right way?"

He snapped his fingers, and one by one, their loved ones began to appear. Sam, Dean, Nicole, Gabriel, Frank. But Frank was holding Angela in his arms, and Rob was standing beside him. No Jody, though, and no Eric. Becky was standing beside Sam, and she was holding Baby Brian. Henri, Milo, and Nanette. Rowena. Rowena? But, wasn't she...Kevin, Barry, Carolyn and Mike, with Peter and Ilene. But, no Tommy. Of course not. There wouldn't be, would there, nor a Chuck, either. But there were Linda, and Paul, and Laurel. Bobby was there too, but so were Patricia, and Crowley. There were more than a few dirty looks being exchanged there, which would have been funny, under other circumstances. Karen, Ethan and George were there, too.

"I think that's everyone who really matters in this situation," Lucifer said, nodding. "Okie dokie. Here's how this is going to work: everyone gets one vote. We'll tally them all up, and whoever gets the most votes, I'll bring that person back. No strings attached. Come on, everybody, what do you say? It'll be fun. In fact, maybe each person who wants somebody back should do a heartfelt, five-minute presentation on why their person deserves to come back the most. Winchesters? How about you? Your dad was a bit of a dick, but your mom was a total babe. Wouldn't you like to see her in one piece again, and not just some disgusting bit of flambe on the ceiling? Want Quinn back, Sammy? Dean's got Nicole, and Cas had got Gail, but what do you have? Becky? Good luck with that. For a number of reasons."

Lucifer chucked Becky under the chin and gave her a wink. Then he put his hand on Baby Brian's head. Yup. This kid was the real deal, all right. If Satan really meant what he said about doing them all a favour, he should just crush Brian's skull right now. But what did Lucifer care? He was the Alpha Male right now, and if for any reason this group was able to get out of the current predicament they found themselves in, Lucifer wouldn't be part of the equasion, anyway. But for the moment, he had the floor, and he was enjoying himself immensely.

"Now, where was I?" Lucifer continued. "Oh, yes. Gabriel. How about we bring Liz back, so you can show everyone what a great guy you can be? Being married to a saint like her sure wouldn't hurt your rep any, would it? She would probably earn you a lot of points, in the court of public opinion. Of course, her death also got you off the hook in a big way, though, didn't it? Now we'll never know if you would have been able to stay monogamous. Forever is a long time, isn't it, Brother?"

Lucifer's gaze shifted to Frank. "Now, here's a guy who's got several cases to make. You've sure had a lot of tragedy in your life, haven't you, Frank? Some voodoo bastard killed your parents, your wife survived breast cancer only to have her brain turn on her, and young Eric was killed by his own mom. There must be something about you that just really pisses Dad off. I didn't think your jokes were all that bad, myself."

Then the Devil looked at Barry. "How about you, 'hon'? You could certainly argue convincingly that Tommy's death was the unkindest of them all. A young kid who was brought up by white trash parents who wrapped themselves in the Bible to look respectable, gets a slap on the wrist for taking away the love of your life? How fair is that? Haven't you people suffered enough?" Lucifer giggled, glancing at Paul. "Whoops. Me and my big mouth. Who am I calling 'you people', right, Paul? But hey, at least your folks are all still here. Well, except for Raphael, of course. But I doubt anybody misses HIM. Not even his own son. It's too bad about young Emma, but let's face it: she was just a footnote. So were Efram, and even Riley. Right, Cas? Actually, I don't know if you should even get a vote. They're all just collateral damage to you, aren't they, Big Guy? You can delude yourself into thinking you're the Cas who lives in Gail's head, but we all know better, don't we?"

Lucifer clapped his hands together smartly. "OK, who wants the floor first?"

"I do," Gail said loudly. She looked around at everyone. "This is one of the many, many reasons that Lucifer's name is synonymous with Evil. You see what he's trying to do here, right? Even if he's telling the truth, and he could bring one of them back, he's trying to pit us against each other by holding a vote to decide who it should be. Don't fall for it. He just wants to see our pain, and if we end up fighting about who deserves to come back the most, he'll feed off of that, too. Well, I'm not going to play his game. I abstain."

"As do I," Cas said, stepping forward. "Me too," Frank said, then Dean and Sam followed, then Gabriel and Bobby, and then the rest of them did the same. Even Rowena, and Crowley.

Lucifer frowned deeply. "Fine. Don't ever say I never offered to cut you a break, then." He waved his hands and all of them except for Cas and Gail vanished. If they had ever been there in the first place, that was.

"So, what now?" Lucifer said to the couple, affecting an exaggerated leer. "I suppose a threesome is out of the question?" As Cas scowled, the Devil laughed. "Oh, yeah, that's right. In this reality, you've never...Just wait, Cas. It's gonna be epic."

"Look, we know you like to play games with people, but I'm getting tired of this whole rigmarole," Gail said irritably. "What's it going to take?"

"What do you mean? What's WHAT going to take?" Satan asked her, affecting a puzzled expression.

"I want our lives back!" she wailed. "Not these ones here; the ones we used to have. What will it take for You to allow us to go back to Kilimanjaro?"

Lucifer started to smile, and as he did, His face turned into God's. "How did you know?" the Almighty Father asked her.

"You tried to oversell the character," she replied. "Besides, Lucifer would never have given up so easily. He would have gone on, and on, and on. There's nothing he enjoys more than seeing our heartbreak."

God inclined His head in acknowledgement of what Gail was saying. "You're not wrong," He remarked. "That is one of Lucifer's more unfortunate character flaws." He waved his hand, and Cas and Gail were standing on the forest floor at Kilimanjaro. But, where were Sam and Dean?

"Never mind," God said. "I'm talking to the two of you, right now. So, here you are, Gail. I have granted your wish. Now, what else do you want? A unicorn? The moon and the stars, maybe? After all, I exist only to serve you."

She let out a frustrated breath. "Are you absolutely sure you're not Lucifer? Because right now, you sound like him. I don't know where all this sarcasm is coming from, all of a sudden."

"Really? You don't?" God said dryly. "What did you expect, Gail? Did you think I would just wave My little finger, and put it all back for you? Well, I could. Of course I could. But, I'm not going to. I'm not going to, and I'll tell you why." He glanced at Cas, who was rendered speechless by the speed and the cold efficiency with which the Father was dealing with the two of them now.

"Legend has it that, when Job asked Me why he had been beset with so many problems, I asked him where he had been, when I made the world." God shrugged. "That might even be true. I no longer remember. But I do like that line, so I'm going to use it now: Where were YOU when I made the world, Gail?"

"What does that matter?" she said tartly. "I'm here NOW, aren't I? What you're doing is wrong. You already punished Cas, didn't you? And then, you punished me, and now, you're punishing everybody! Whatever happened to love, and compassion? I may not have been there when you made the world, but we're the ones who have made our lives into what they are today. Us, not you. We never even see you any more, anyway. And even on the rare occasions we HAVE seen you, all you've done is tell us how bad we are. How messed up we are. We already know that! We don't need you to remind us. But still, I think we've done all right, considering all the crap you've put us through. But we've done it in spite of you, not because of you."

Cas was terrified. He should not be letting Gail speak to the Almighty Father that way. If he'd had to, he should have grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth. Anything. But he had been paralyzed by fear, and also, a part of him had approved of what his wife was saying. Cas would never have had the nerve to say those things himself, but he could not deny that they were all true. God never came to Heaven or to Earth any more, and now that He had, it had been only to punish them, or berate them. He had expected to anger their Father once they had the Book in their possession, but the extent of this punishment had been way beyond what the offense had warranted, in Cas's opinion. They hadn't even gotten the opportunity to try to bring their fallen loved ones back, which was supposed to have been the point of the whole exercise in the first place.

"Is that so?" God said calmly. His tone was casual, but Cas wasn't fooled by it. He knew that their Father was in a towering rage right now. But he couldn't have God this angry at Gail. She didn't deserve His anger. It was Cas who had precipitated this entire thing, in the first place.

"Yes, that's so," Cas said insolently. He moved to stand in front of Gail. "I agree with everything that my wife has said. My only regret is that I wasn't the first one to say them."

God regarded His son with a raised eyebrow. "I see what you're doing there, Castiel. It's very noble of you, but it will not work. We both know that Gail has a mind of her own." He wiggled His little finger, moving Cas to the side so that He could look directly at Gail. "Up until now, I've been lenient on you, as you have committed blasphemy after blasphemy," He told her. "Because Castiel loves you so much, and also, because you have been a good influence on him. There. There is your praise, my Daughter. But you have overstepped your bounds now, and you have forgotten your place. Now, I'm thinking that I should have just left Castiel without a mate. While I acknowledge that he was not a very nice person, he certainly got a lot more done."

Cas was panicked now. "No, please! Please! I'll do anything You want! I will give You anything, Father," he begged.

God was still looking at Gail. "I will give you one more chance: Are you going to be obedient?"

She laughed scornfully, ignoring the alarm bells that were going off in her head. He was giving her a chance to take it all back. All she had to do was take it back, even if she didn't really mean it. People did that all the time. But why had He gone and used the word "obedient"? How on earth could Gail say she was going to be obedient? She had refused to vow obedience to Cas at their wedding. What WAS it with men, anyway?

"If you call sitting down, shutting up, and 'knowing my place' obedient, then no, I'm NOT going to be obedient!" Gail blurted out. "And frankly, I don't know why you would expect me to be! I'm a strong woman now, thanks to all those tests you've put me through over the years. Why would you want me to regress now?"

"Because My Word is the Word," God said in a clipped tone. "That is all you need to know."

Gail was stunned. So it was like that, was it? Because I say so? She looked at Cas. What was going on, here?

"Father, would You please let me talk to Gail for a moment? Please?" Cas pleaded.

God sighed. "I will give you five minutes." He promptly disappeared.

Gail stared at her husband. "Don't tell me, let me guess," she said, annoyed. "Here comes the lecture."

"Why are you being so stubborn about this?" Cas exclaimed. "You have seen how Father punishes us when He is angry! Please, tell Him you will be obedient. Please, Gail."

"Why does He want me to say that?" she said, her jaw set. "Because I'm a woman?"

"Yes," Cas answered simply.

Gail's mouth fell open in amazement. Out of all the things that Cas could have said, she had honestly never thought that he would say that to her. Well, not out loud, anyway. "So, after all the years we've been together, you're telling me that my gender is the issue, here? Is that what you're saying to me, Cas?"

Cas was very uncomfortable with the way this conversation was going. They only had five minutes. He only had five minutes - actually, it was less, now - to convince his wife to bow to God's Will. Hadn't what they had just been through been sufficient to convince her that the Father wasn't bluffing? But Cas didn't want to lie to her, either. It WAS because of her gender. Cas didn't think that was necessarily right, or fair, but it wasn't his opinion that mattered in this situation. He had to make Gail understand what a dangerous game she was playing, here.

"If you continue to defy God, He will tear it all down," Cas said, gripping her by the upper arms. "Is that what you want?"

Gail blinked. "No. No, of course that's not what I want," she replied, and Cas let out a relieved breath. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I don't know what got into me. I won't defy Him anymore," she told her husband.

Cas embraced her tightly. She could feel his heart hammering in his chest. Wow. Sticking up for your principles was one thing, but she had been thumbing her nose at the Almighty God, almost daring Him to punish her. And, why? What for? Was she nuts?

So, when God came back, Gail told Him that she was sorry. Of course she would be obedient. She would do whatever He asked of her, if He would only let Sam Winchester live.

God regarded Gail for a moment. Now, He was the one who had a decision to make. She was capitulating, but He could tell she didn't really mean it. But He could be the bigger person here, and simply overlook that little fact.

But...it was that last part that rankled God. Who did she think she was, attaching conditions to her pledge of obedience? If God wanted Sam Winchester to die, then he would die. It was as simple as that. Gail had some nerve, attempting to negotiate for Sam's life. Her obedience was expected; it wasn't a bargaining chip, to be extended or withdrawn at her discretion. She had clearly not taken the lesson.

"Good luck, my Son," God said to Castiel. Then He touched Gail's forehead with one finger, and she disappeared. Then the sky turned pitch black, and Cas could hear a loud rumbling sound from off in the distance. Then the sounds of gunfire, and screaming. Then, finally, a deafening crashing noise, and the cringe-inducing scree of metal, scraping against metal.

Castiel looked at his Father pleadingly. "What hast Thou wrought?" he said in a hushed, fearful tone.

"But only one key opens," God said calmly. "Fail to heed, everything dies. Earth, annihilated. Destroyed. Good luck, my Son," He repeated.

Then God disappeared, leaving a terrified Castiel to deal with the End of Times.


	5. The World I've Known

Chapter 4 - The World I've Known

Castiel was back in the United States now, trying to help however and wherever he could. He felt torn these days between the desire to protect what was left of their family and friends and keep them together, and his greater sense of responsibility to every human on the planet. There were fewer and fewer of those every day, but he still had to do what he could. Cas felt each and every death acutely, as if it were his own. Because, in a very real way, it was. Every day, he died a little more in soul, and in spirit. But he would live on and on, of course, until he was nothing but a hollow shell, just going through the motions. The process was already happening.

When God had triggered the true End of Times, He had already brought Cas and Gail back to the forest floor at Kilimanjaro. Back to the reality they had been living in before they'd obtained the Book of Life. So Sam and Dean were at the bunker, and Nicole had been in Canada. Chuck, Jody, Tommy, Emma, Liz, and Eric were all dead again. Lucifer was gone, but the spiral of destruction he had started in the other reality had somehow bled over to this world. Since there was no Raphael here, because Castiel had killed him years ago, there had never been an Angel army, attempting to annex Earth. But Bobby had been cast down to Earth from the High Office, which was currently sitting empty. That meant little to the Angels, however. None of them had any appetite for war, or politics. Therefore, Demons had free rein on the planet. They had been raining down destruction for the past year, just because they could. Some humans had taken it upon themselves to band together and fight the Demons, and they'd had a fair amount of success. But now, there were groups of humans fighting other humans, because violence was an unfortunate aspect of human nature, and because violence often begets violence. Then there were the religious types, and they broke into separate factions, as well. There were the true believers, who thought that if they increased their prayers and church attendance, God would deliver them from Evil. Then there were the zealots, who told those people they were wasting their time. So were the humans who had picked up arms. This was the Armageddon that had been promised in Revelation. Soon would come the Final Judgement, and then the Rapture. The Righteous would ascend, while the others...not so much. But they had been warned, hadn't they? You reap what you sow, and this had been a long time coming.

Cas stood on top of Lebanon's former Lookout Point, staring down at the remnants of the city. Dean had said he used to come here with Sam, sometimes. They would crack open a beer from the little green cooler and sit on Baby's hood, looking at the twinkling lights down below. They would seldom talk, enjoying the quiet serenity instead. Their lives had been messy and noisy enough, and things were even worse nowadays, of course.

Then Dean had elbowed Cas and told his best friend that sometimes he would bring a woman up there instead, and then, things hadn't been so quiet. But he'd regretted the lame attempt at humour immediately, because Cas had rushed out of the room in tears, and he hadn't come back for days.

Gail was gone. Just...gone. Was she alive, dead, or simply missing? No one knew. God had touched her with His finger that day on the jungle floor when she had asked Him to spare Sam, and then she had simply disappeared. Then so had the Father, after He had quoted the passage that Kevin and Emma had translated from the ancient Texts. Cas had racked his brain, wondering if there had been a message in there somewhere, something that the Father had been trying to tell him that he had missed. Well, besides the fact that He had decided to bring about the end of the world, that was. Besides that.

As Cas looked down at the rubble of the downtown buildings, his heart clenched. Up here, there was a gentle breeze, and the trill of birds. Down there were still-smoking ruins, blood, death, and destruction. Cas had been popping around to all of the surrounding cities, digging through the rubble, looking for any survivors. Occasionally, he would find one that he could heal by himself, but most of the time, they were either too far gone, or already dead. Still, he kept on going.

But Cas had been too devastated to search for survivors close to home, ever since he and the men had come across Hester's body. Her little house had been in ruins, and her corpse had been stabbed repeatedly, and desecrated. They had all looked at each other grimly, and then Bobby had lifted the poor woman gently into his arms, telling the boys that he would take Hester to the local cemetery and give her a proper burial. Ethan had volunteered to go with him, and then the rest of them had moved slowly back to the vehicles they had borrowed from the local dealership to continue on with their sad work.

Cas had disappeared from the scene without a word, and they had all sighed. Everyone knew how heartbroken he was. Cas blamed himself for everything. All of it. No one knew exactly what had happened between him and Gail and God at Kilimanjaro that day. Gabriel had tried to find out, but Cas had shut him down. Totally and completely. Nobody had been able to find out anything about Gail, not even Frank. He had confronted Cas as soon as he'd found out that his brother-in-law had come back from Africa without her. Cas had told Frank that he didn't want to talk about it, and Gail's brother had looked at him incredulously, waiting for the punchline. Cas had remained mute, so Frank had looked at Sam and Dean. The brothers were shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. They knew nothing about anything, they'd told Frank. One minute all four of them had been standing on the forest floor at the base of the mountain, and the next, they'd been back at the bunker with Cas, but...no Gail. God had wiped the rest from their minds.

Frank had been astonished. What? God?! Now, he had about a million more questions! But Cas had said miserably that he had no answers for Frank. None. Then Frank had grabbed Cas by the front of his shirt and shouted that he'd better come up with some, right now, or else. But then Cas had simply popped out from his grasp, leaving an outraged Frank behind.

Sam. That was the one thing that Cas couldn't get over. Sam Winchester was back at the bunker with them, alive and well, with nary a scratch on him. Gail had asked their Father for Sam's life, and apparently, her wish had been granted. So, where was Gail, then? What had God done with her? What had God done TO her? Had He decided to trade her life for Sam's? That was why Cas hadn't been able to answer anyone's questions, and why he hadn't been able to remain in Lebanon. It was bad enough having to watch the entire world crumble without having to see his family suffer, as well. Besides, Cas knew it wasn't exactly a contest, but he felt as if none of them were suffering as badly as he was, right now. He had cried, prayed, begged and pleaded for God to give him some sort of a sign, anything, to tell him whether Gail still existed somewhere, in some form. She had technically been a human when she had vanished, had she not? So, had God simply taken her somewhere else, until such time as He decided to show mercy?

So Cas had performed his atonements at various points all over the globe, showing kindness and compassion to the humans who needed his help, and dispatching the ones he came across who were causing harm to others. There were Demons, too, but they usually vanished the instant they saw Cas coming. None of them wanted to be on the receiving end of his blade.

But Cas still held out a sliver of hope. This was the harshest God had ever been with him by far, but once he had done his penance, God had always relented before. Cas had already lost Gail in the past, a number of times, but he had always been reunited with her. Even if the reunion had taken hundreds of years to occur. This was the most painful loss of them all, though. Half of their family was already dead, and the other half were in constant peril, every moment of every day. Cas wanted to be with them to share the pain of all of their losses, but if he couldn't tell them if they would ever see Gail again in their lifetimes, what good was he to them?

Everywhere Cas went, he saw her face. He would close his eyes, and hear her voice. His hand felt wrong without hers in it. The pain was so intense, so acute that he had to look around sometimes to make sure that he wasn't being stabbed by a blade. But it was heartache, pure and simple. For himself, because every second without her was pure torture, but even more so for their human friends and family, who might die before ever setting eyes on her again. Surely the Almighty Father wouldn't be that cruel. Would He?

"I have no right to ask You this for myself, but I beseech You to give us some sort of a sign that we will see her again," Cas said now, bowing his head. "Please. For Frank and Rob and Angela. For Sam and Dean, Barry, and Nicole. For all of us who love her so. Please, Father."

Then, Cas felt it: a light touch on his shoulder, followed by a fluttering sound. He opened his eyes, and his heart soared. There was a white dove perched on his shoulder. It looked at him with big eyes, then cooed softly and flew away.

Cas quickly shed his blazer and then his shirt, and his wings emerged from his back. He flew eagerly after the dove. This was his sign! It had to be. White doves had been very significant to himself and Gail over the years. They symbolized hope; a message from their Father that all was not lost.

They flew through the downtown area to the north end of town, where there was much less damage. Just as it had been back at the time of the death squads, the suburban areas had remained largely unscathed. Demons tended to concentrate on urban areas; there were more people there, and more places of iniquity.

The dove alit on the sign outside the property: the Sacred Heart Sanitarium. Cas landed a moment later, hastily retracting his wings and putting his clothing back on. He hadn't seen anyone yet, but he could tell that the hospital was still operating.

"Thank you," he murmured to the bird as he walked up the curved driveway of the facility. It cooed once more, and then flew away.

It was strange, though. When Cas entered the lobby of the main building, there was no one around. The place was still clean and in good repair, so he didn't think the premises were abandoned. Perhaps they were merely short-staffed. These days, there must be quite a few people in need of mental health professionals.

But he had been led here for a reason, so Cas began to move quietly through the corridors, peering into all the rooms. Many were empty, but there were some individuals here and there, reading, sleeping, or just sitting on their beds. All seemed calm; presumably, this was a lower-security facility. Cas was glad.

"Can I help you, Sir?" A nurse in blue scrubs approached Cas, with a concerned look on her face.

"Yes. I'm sorry, but there was no one in the lobby to speak with," Cas said pleasantly. He swallowed hard, trying to stay calm. "I wonder if you could tell me if you have a patient here by the name of Gail?"

"What's the last name?" the woman said briskly.

Cas thought about that for a moment. He had no satisfactory answer, so he said, "She may not even know her name. I'm not sure what her condition might be. May I describe her to you?"

Before he'd gotten too detailed in his description, though, the nurse was already nodding. "Yes, that's Jane Doe 2. I'm pretty sure it is, anyway. She's in Room 15A, just around the corner. I can take you there, if you want - "

Cas was already rushing down the hall in the direction Lisa had indicated. She sighed, following him. She'd been hoping to be able to sit down with a cup of coffee for a few minutes before having to portion out the meds and make the rounds with them. At the moment, Nurse Lisa was the only one here to help these poor people. More than half of the hospital's staff were either dead or presumed to be, and many days, Lisa was the only one who showed up for work. Truth be told, she had nowhere else to go. When the world had started to go to hell, Lisa had been living with her boyfriend A.J. in the city, and driving out here to work at Sacred Heart five days a week. They'd had a pretty good thing going. A.J. was a cop, and Lisa was a nurse at a psychiatric hospital, and together, they were helping to make their community a better place. But when the reports had started to come in advising of the deaths and destruction being wrought in nearby cities, A.J. had told Lisa that she should move back to the 'burbs until the situation was under control. Of course, nobody had known back then just how bad things were going to get. So now Lisa was here, apart from the guy she loved, worrying about him constantly. They texted each other and talked on the phone when there was time, but it wasn't the same. But A.J. had been adamant: what kind of a man would he be if he didn't do his duty? He'd signed on to serve and protect, hadn't he? And how about Lisa? She needed to be there for those poor, traumatized people. The hospital had only been about half-full when everything had begun, but slowly, people had been drifting in, asking for help. Strictly speaking, patients were supposed to have insurance, or at least have been referred by a physician. But these were different times they were living in now, and the few staff members who remained had allowed the newcomers to stay, so that they could still have the illusion that they were helping others, at least in some manner.

Cas stopped in the doorway of the room, unsure of how to proceed. The room was almost pitch-dark. There was a figure of a woman sitting in a chair next to the bed on the far side of the room. Was it...? It was so dark that he couldn't make out the woman's face. But now, Cas was feeling afraid. There was just something about that motionless figure...

"Why is it so dark in here?" Cas asked Lisa.

"When she first arrived, we tried to find out who she was and where she had come from, but she wouldn't talk to us," Lisa replied softly. "So we gave her this room. It's on the southwest corner of the facility, so it's the most peaceful wing we have. We'd hoped that if she felt safe, she would open up. At least tell us what her name was. But so far, nothing. The only reaction she has shown is an aversion to light. We tried turning on the lamp in the room and opening the curtains, but she became so agitated that we had to medicate her. So we feed her, although she doesn't eat much, and we try to talk to her every now and then. But we've got so many people coming in here to try to help, and more and more are coming in all the time..."

"I understand," Cas said. He edged closer to the woman, so as not to startle her. And then, the miracle: as his eyes adjusted to the dark, Cas could see the woman's face. It was Gail! Oh, thank You, Heavenly Father.

"Do you know her?" Lisa asked.

"She's my wife," Cas said. He started to cry, partly from the immense relief he felt and partly because it hurt him to see her like this. She was completely motionless, staring straight ahead. She hadn't looked at Cas, or reacted to his presence at all.

"Your wife?" Lisa echoed in surprise.

"Yes." Cas drew up another chair and sat beside Gail, drinking in her profile. "She's been missing for quite some time, now. We didn't know - " His voice broke, and he swallowed hard, trying to collect himself. "We didn't know if we would ever see her again."

"Well, I'm glad you found her, but you need to know about her condition," Lisa said cautiously. "When your wife..." She stopped. "What's her name? What's yours?"

"Her name is Gail," he said, looking warmly at Gail's face. "My name is Castiel. Cas, for short."

No movement on Gail's part. Not even a twitch, to suggest that Cas's presence or even his name meant anything to her.

Lisa nodded, as if Cas had spoken again. She had seen this many times before. A patient who was nonresponsive, and a family member hovering over them anxiously, trying to will a reaction out of them. It didn't work that way. The human brain was a mysterious and complex organ. Who knew what sorts of things triggered a break with reality, or what sorts of things might bring the afflicted individual back from wherever they'd been?

"It certainly wouldn't hurt to use her name when you're talking to her, but be aware that you may not receive any sort of immediate result," Lisa said in a quiet voice. "When Gail first got here, Dr. Michaels examined her. He diagnosed her as being catatonic. She's been stuporous, and suffering from mutism. It sometimes seems as if she wants to communicate, but her brain won't enable her to do it. Dr. Michaels' theory is that she is suffering from an acute case of PTSD. I guess there's a lot of that going around, these days," she added dryly.

"How can we cure her?" Cas said, his brow furrowing. "I mean...how can we cure Gail," he amended hastily, making Lisa's lips twitch briefly. "How can we cure Gail?" Cas repeated.

The nurse let out a breath. "We don't. We can't. Normally, with medication and therapy, she might emerge, eventually. But I'm sorry to say that we don't have the time, or the staff any more, to give her that kind of one-on-one care. She should be constantly monitored, if possible. If she experiences a sudden breakthrough, there should be someone with her, in case..."

"...In case she tries to harm herself," Cas said sadly. He understood. He knew a lot more about that kind of thing than this woman might suspect. There had been many times since God had taken Gail from that cursed mountain that Cas had turned the subject over and over in his mind, as one would attempt to work out a riddle. But ultimately, he hadn't been able to bring himself to do it. Staying on Earth and watching all this pain and suffering was his legacy. It was what he had been created to do. And there had still been that one small spark of hope, that tiny ember burning in his chest that his and Gail's story was not yet over.

So now, it would appear that Cas had been right. God had been very merciful. He had allowed Cas to find her again. But this was only the first step in a journey. Cas ached to tell this nurse that he would take Gail away from this place and stay by her side, for as long as it took. But Cas was pretty sure that the road to redemption didn't include being selfish. If he abandoned all the humans who still needed his help just to sit with his own wife, that would prove that he had learned nothing at all about being the kind of Angel he was supposed to be.

Lisa could tell from the look on his face: "You don't have a home, do you, Cas?" she asked him softly.

He looked at her, startled. Then she realized what she must have meant. She must have assumed that their house was one of the hundreds of thousands that had been destroyed. Now it occurred to him that he had no idea if their house was still standing, or not. He should probably go there, to look. But without Gail, it was just a structure. They had to get Gail well again. The rest was unimportant.

"Why don't we just keep her here for the time being, then?" Lisa said compassionately. "If you want to come and visit her, feel free. But I get the feeling that you've got other things that you have to do, right now."

Cas was surprised. "How did you know that?"

Lisa smiled wearily. "My boyfriend's a First Responder, too. You just have that look. Don't feel guilty, Cas. A.J. and I are apart too, right now, because we're trying to help as many people as we can. I'm a big believer in karma. If you're kind to others, they'll be kind to you, and to others they encounter along the way. I know, I know; it's kind of a naive way of looking at things, sometimes. But these days, kindness is pretty much the only currency that's worth anything."

Cas was quiet for a moment. "That's a lovely thing to say," he said eventually, when he felt able to speak.

Suddenly, there was a loud, keening wail coming from down the corridor. Lisa sighed. "That's my cue," she said wearily. "Feel free to stay here with Gail as long as you want. And don't give up hope, Cas. Sometimes, hope is all we have."

Tears prickled at his eyes again. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Lisa gave him a brief nod of acknowledgement and then she left the room, presumably to go to the aid of the patient who had cried out.

Cas turned to Gail. "What a nice woman," he remarked. "I'm glad she's here for you." He stared at her. She hadn't moved a muscle. She was merely staring straight ahead, her eyes glazed-looking and unfocused. "We've missed you so much, my love." He looked down at her hands, which were in her lap. Should he attempt to take her hand? No; maybe he'd better not. He wasn't sure if the sudden action would startle her.

But he sat there with her in the dark and talked to her for quite a while in a soft, soothing voice. He said nothing about what was happening in the outside world, or about Kilimanjaro. He only told her how much she was loved, and that he was overjoyed that they were together again. Then he reminded her of the many happy times they had shared, both together and with their family. He said nothing about the future, though. That was still very much in question.

A few hours passed, and nothing had changed. But he had found her now, and that was the most important thing.

"I have to go now, but I'll return very soon," Cas finally told her. "If it's all right, I'll bring Frank to see you when I come back. Is that all right, my darling? Would you like that?" Then Cas remembered he was supposed to use her name, so he said, "I love you, Gail."

Silence. Cas sighed. He would have to be patient with her. He could do that. God had brought her back to him, hadn't He?

Cas popped out of her room.

Weeks passed, and Gail's status remained unchanged. The one bright spot was that Cas had been able to leave her at Sacred Heart all this time. When he was away from her, he felt a tremendous sense of guilt. But he had vowed to help even more humans, going forward. Nurse Lisa had talked about karma and hope, and Cas had thrown himself wholeheartedly behind those concepts. The more good he did on Earth, the more likely it was that Gail would return to herself once more.

Cas had brought Frank to see Gail as promised, and her brother had wept, too. They had experienced so much loss and heartbreak that he'd already convinced himself that he would never see her again.

The two men had sat and talked to Gail, and to each other, for a while, and once again, they had kept the subject matter light and breezy. It had broken Frank's heart to see his sister like that, but a very small part of him, a part he would never admit to, envied her. This was the death squads on steroids, and here Frank was again, wading through the mud and the blood. Losing friends, and loved ones. Just before Cas had arrived to take Frank to the hospital, their rescue group had been attacked by a dozen Demons. Carolyn had been stabbed in the neck by one, and by the time Bobby had winked over there to heal her, she had already bled out. Frank had been devastated, and he had been angry, too. Now Peter was going to have to grow up without a mother, just like Angela, and Rob. Carolyn had never picked up a weapon in her life, and she had never harmed anyone. She had simply insisted on helping, because she'd said it was the right thing to do. Their Canadian friends had all moved into the bunker now, just as they had back when Lucifer had been loosed on the Earth.

Well, the Devil was old news, Frank thought bitterly as he sat beside his sister in her darkened room. Cas had finally been able to open the drapes at the window just a crack, but Gail had become so agitated when he'd started to open them that he'd had to stop immediately. Still, there was enough light now so that Frank could make out his sister's expression. If she'd had one, that was. As with every visit Cas had made, Gail merely sat there, looking straight ahead and not speaking. She hadn't said a word, to anyone. She hadn't even acknowledged that there was anyone else in the room with her.

If Cas found this fact disheartening, he didn't let on. He chattered away as if Gail was an active member of the conversation. He'd seen a butterfly out on the grounds, and its markings had been so beautifully unique that he had stopped to stare at it for a while. Would she like to come outside with him, and see if it came back?

There was no response, of course, and Cas looked at Frank sadly. Then Frank had tried to get a rise out of his sister by making a bad joke about Cas trying to catch the butterfly with a net, which would be completely apropos, considering where they were. Nothing. Then he made another, about the fact that the games room here used to have marbles, but they didn't any longer, because everybody kept losing theirs. Not his finest work, maybe, but it was becoming increasingly harder for Frank to joke around these days. The world was an ugly, suck-y place now, and it was all Frank could do not to tell Gail to shove over. Maybe the two of them could be crazy together. Frank could sure use a really good break from reality, right about now.

Eventually, both men had run out of things to say, and Frank was needed back at the bunker. There were weapons to be cleaned, beers to be drunk, and a frightened little girl to comfort. Angela didn't understand what was going on in the world, or why they were all under lockdown at the bunker. Frank's house still stood, amazingly enough, but he felt like they would be too vulnerable there. Look at what had happened to poor Hester. So he'd moved them into the bunker: himself, Rob, and Angela. Oh, and Poochie, of course. Heaven forbid his daughter should go through the Apocalypse without her stuffed elephant. But it was funny, because Frank and Rob had ransacked the house, and Ralph had been nowhere to be found. Gail's stuffed penguin had mysteriously vanished. Rob had made some kind of weak joke about Ralph having gone in search of colder weather, but it really was the strangest thing. Angela had had a cry over Ralph, but then she had simply hugged Poochie to herself more tightly and taken to her bed with him. And if that wasn't the saddest illustration of what their lives had become, Frank didn't know what was. They all had to hug each other more tightly these days, didn't they? Because any of them could lose any of the others, on any given day.

Just like they'd lost Gail now. Sure, her body was here in the chair, but the Gail they all loved was gone. Taken a powder. Gone on an extended leave. The expressions were numerous, but the fact remained: this wasn't Frank's sister sitting there, it was a hologram. A mannequin.

"Let's go, Cas," Frank said, and the men rose. Cas looked down at his wife. "I'll be back soon," he told her. "I love you, Gail."

No reaction, of course. The poor bastard, Frank thought. He had been as mad as hell at Cas when he and the Winchesters had come back from Mount Kilimanjaro and Cas had stonewalled him regarding Gail. But seeing Cas like this now just made Frank feel sorry for the guy. He was trying so hard to get Gail to snap out of it. But unless there was some kind of a miracle, Cas was facing a future without his wife, just like Frank was. No wonder his brother-in-law was flitting around the world, busting his ass to help people. It was the only thing he COULD do. It was all that any of them had left.

Cas took Frank's arm, and the men winked out of Gail's room. She showed no reaction.

A week or so later, Cas had once again run out of things to say. This time, it was Mike who had died, not by murder, but by a simple heart attack. He had been helping Dean lift some chunks of concrete off of a little girl who'd been trapped under a decimated downtown building. They'd gotten the child out, but as Bobby was healing her wounds, Mike had clutched at his chest. Then he'd gone down like a ton of bricks, and he'd been dead even before he'd hit the ground. No Angel could fix a heart attack, and it had happened so suddenly there'd been no time to teleport him to a hospital. So the men had driven his body to the cemetery and interred Mike next to his beloved Carolyn, and beside Hester. Even in death, he wanted the family to be together, Bobby had said gruffly, and no one had said a word.

But Cas wasn't going to tell Gail about that bit of sad news, or even about their small victory in saving that little girl. Gail had no idea what had been going on in the outside world, and Cas meant to keep it that way. Why would he want to tell her about the state that the world was in now? Why would she ever want to come back, if she knew how bleak things were? It would be nice if she could just come back for him, Cas thought, but he also knew by now that things didn't work that way. He had done a lot of research on the subject, and all of his research seemed to suggest that the patients actually had very little control over their own minds in these types of situations.

That notion had led him to an idea, though, and so Cas tried to see if he could find out how bad things really were with her. So he'd reached out slowly and put his hand on her forehead. She didn't flinch, or shrink back. Cas wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.

The house of her mind was very dark, with dust and cobwebs in all of the rooms. The rooms were completely empty, devoid of any colour, people, love, or laughter. Cas's footsteps echoed through the emptiness of it all. Now, he was really scared. He'd never seen anything like it before. It was as if the house had been abandoned for years and years. It was eerie, like one of Sam and Dean's haunted houses. But there was no ghost, only emptiness. Desolation.

Cas removed his hand from Gail's head. What could he possibly do for her?

Then, an inspiration: "I'll be right back, my love," he told her.

Cas popped out of the room, and a few minutes later, he came back, holding Gabriel by the sleeve. "Can you help us, please?" he asked the Archangel.

Gabriel looked at him, then at Gail. Man, this sucked. When Cas had first told him he'd found her, Gabe had wanted to rush over there, but Cas had said no. He didn't want a lot of people around Gail right now, frightening her. What did he mean? Dean had asked angrily. Weren't they her friends, too? Her family? But Cas had explained as much as they knew about her condition, and when Frank had seen his sister, he'd backed Cas up by saying that Gail probably couldn't handle a lot of commotion right now. Look at how she'd freaked out when Cas had opened the drapes an inch.

So Gabriel had been upset, but he'd tried to understand. But now, Cas had basically hijacked him and now here they were, standing in front of his little Kitten. She hadn't reacted at all to their sudden appearance. Cas had advised that that was a normal state of affairs, but it was still more than a little disconcerting. Gabe's little Kitten was catatonic, all right, and there would probably be a great joke in there for Frank somewhere, if the situation weren't so tragic.

"Can you enter her mind?" Cas asked Gabriel now. "Can you try to restore her house?"

Gabe looked at him incredulously. "Are you nuts?"

Castiel stared at him, unamused at the remark. He didn't know if Gabriel had been joking, or if the humour had been unintentional, considering where they were. But either way, Cas didn't care. Gabriel was an Archangel, with prodigious powers. "If you will enter her mind, maybe you can give her back her memories," Cas insisted. "Even one or two. If she has those, she might come back to us."

Gabriel continued to stare at his Brother. What Cas was suggesting now was unprecedented. The Angels had both entered peoples' minds and modified their memories before, many times. But was it possible to install memories, where none existed?

"I'll try, Cas," Gabriel said, sighing. His Brother needed Gail back. They all did. Things were lousy enough, as it was. He hadn't realized how much life Gail brought to their family until she was gone. Just like Liz, and the rest of them. This was unacceptable.

Gabriel drew up a chair beside Gail. He extended his hand tentatively, glancing at Cas once more. His Brother nodded encouragingly. What Gabriel was about to do was a very personal act. Intimate, even. It was too bad this was not the time to make jokes, because Gabe had about a million of them running around in his head right now.

He reached out and placed his hand on Gail's head.

Gabriel was astonished. Cas had been absolutely right. The Archangel had never seen anyone's mind in this condition before. Dark, and desolate. Dusty. Abandoned. Gabe walked down the main hall and peered into the rooms, but they were devoid of...well, everything. He had expected to see things in freeze-frame. Suspended animation, maybe, while her brain was having a rest. That was the way that Gabe had understood it, anyway. Gail was just...resting, for the moment. God knew, pun definitely intended, she'd been through a lot over the past few years. If she had just decided to check out for a while, who was Gabriel to say that she wasn't entitled to do so? Everybody had their own way of dealing, sometimes. Maybe Gail's way of coping was simply deciding not to be here, for a while.

But there was nothing, here. Nothing at all. Gail wasn't simply on vacation; she had moved out, leaving no forwarding address. Gabe stood there in one of the big, empty rooms for a moment, contemplating.

"OK, my little Kitten," he said aloud. "Let's see what you do with this." He waved one hand, and an image of Cas and Gail's wedding was projected onto the wall of the room. Not the fancy first one, because Gabriel hadn't been part of the family back then. No, this was the small affair that they'd had in the backyard of their house on Earth, right after Cas had resigned his post in Heaven. It had been a very brief ceremony, but Gabe was sure that it was no less heartfelt than the first one had been.

He stood there smiling at the scene. That had been such a good time, for most of them, anyway. Before Dad had decided to break out the giant flyswatter and thin out the herd. Before the Almighty Father had decided that making war was preferable to making love. Boy, was God ever wrong on that score. But you couldn't tell the Father anything. When God wanted your opinion, He would give it to you. Gabriel had emerged relatively unscathed from this whole so-called Cleansing. Well, except for the loss of his fiancee, that was. Except for that one little, itty-bitty detail. But at least God didn't have Gabe jumping through flaming hoops, and balancing a ball on his nose. No, Cas was the lucky one who got to do all that.

Gabriel spent another minute watching the ceremony. Frank and Dean were teasing the newly married couple that the reason their vows had been so brief was because they couldn't wait to start smooching. That gave Gabe another idea. He whirled around, waved his hand again, and there was another image, on the side wall. Him and Dean, imitating Cas and Gail at the after-party following their private premiere of the second Supernatural movie. They'd had everybody rolling on the floor laughing, that night. Now that Gabe thought about it, he believed that night had been the last night they'd all been happy, because after that night, God had begun to dismantle their family, piece by piece.

Still, it was a damn good memory. The Gail that Gabriel knew would appreciate it. What else could he show her that would make an impression?

But as the Archangel stood there thinking, a shocking thing happened. Both images suddenly vanished, and the dim light that had enabled him to navigate his way through the hallway extinguished itself. Then Gabriel felt himself moving, as if someone had given him a hard shove backwards. He pinwheeled his arms for balance, and his hand flew off her head, breaking the connection.

Gabriel was beyond astonished. He looked at Cas, open-mouthed. "What? What happened?" Cas asked his Brother anxiously. Gabriel spoke haltingly, still trying to process what he'd just experienced. "I've been kicked out of a lot of places by a lot of women, Cas, but I've never been ejected like THAT before!"

Then, incredibly, Gabriel's face broke into a grin. "That means she's still in there, Cas, and she's putting up a fight!" the Archangel said excitedly.

Cas's heart started to race. Gabriel was right. He sat down beside Gail and took her hand impulsively. It was limp, and she did not react. But at least she didn't show any signs of agitation.

"I'm not giving up on you, Gail," Cas told his wife. "I will never give up on you."

Another few weeks passed, and this time, at was Sam who was standing at the Lookout Point. He came here sometimes, for a few moments of serenity. When he wasn't out there in the trucks cleaning up the streets, he had been hitting the books, hard. He'd read so many books on mental illness and depression that he'd managed to depress the hell out of himself. All the words he'd been reading made sense as individual words, but when he tried to put them all into one cohesive package, all they did was bleed together into one big ball of incomprehensible medical terminology.

Science and education were failing Sam, so he had come here to utilize the only tool he had left in the kit: he prayed. Not to Cas, or Gabriel, or Bobby, of course, but to God Himself.

"People tell me I'm smart all the time, and I guess I am," the younger Winchester said out loud. "But there are a lot of things I don't understand. And that's OK; I've made my peace with most of those things. But what I don't get, what I'll never get, is why you seem to think it's acceptable for a good guy like Ethan to get shot in the line of duty and sent to Heaven, only to be stabbed to death with an Angel blade, when all he was doing was helping humans! And, in what universe is it OK for Dean to be in Canada, keeping a vigil at Nicole's bedside?" Sam took a deep breath, swallowing the lump in his throat. Nicole had been helping Dean and Rob excavate at the site of yet another collapsed building. Ethan, Bobby and Frank had been standing by, weapons at the ready. Many of the humans who had been rampaging alongside the Demons were either dead or had lost whatever twisted motivation they might have originally had, but Demons were eternal beings, and there were way too many of them. Sam wondered where Crowley was, and what his role might be in all of this. Was he still alive, or had he finally been usurped? Had he signed off on this whole mess, or were the Demons acting independently?

In any event, Sam supposed it didn't matter. The rescue party's guards had been attacked by a band of the black-eyed bastards, and Ethan had fallen. Then, as if that wasn't enough, a metal beam had fallen on Nicole, giving her a solid blow to the head. Bobby had called Gabriel, who was helping Sam's team at the other end of town, but the Archangel could do nothing for her. He'd taken Nicole and Dean to the hospital in Vancouver, because their own hospitals were full to overflowing. Unlike the death squad years, Canada hadn't emerged unscathed this time. But there was less destruction, and fewer deaths. The neurologist on duty told the men that Nicole was currently in a coma, which she may or may not come out of.

It was ironic, Sam thought bitterly. Both Dean and Cas were holding vigils for their significant others, wondering if Nicole or Gail would ever return to them. And now, George had earned his spot on the growing list of kids without both parents.

"Where's your compassion?" Sam railed aloud. "How is any of what's going on now right, or fair? If you want to cleanse the Earth so bad, why don't you start with guys like Crowley, and his followers?"

There was no response, of course. Cas and Gabriel could have told Sam that he was wasting his breath. But he'd needed to get it off his chest, anyway. He turned and got into his car, driving away.

Crowley emerged from the trees behind the Lookout Point. None of the God Squad knew it, but he himself went there for quiet reflection, sometimes. The current times weren't exactly being kind to Crowley, either. His Kingdom was in disarray, and his subjects were all over the map. Many of them were indulging in the perceived freedom of total anarchy at the moment, not realizing that they were better off within the not-so-friendly confines of Hell. That was the product that Crowley was trying to sell, anyway, but hardly any of his minions were buying it. Talk about a hard sell. The ones who were on Earth were having the time of their non-lives, killing, raping, and pillaging. What self-respecting Demon would want to give that up, for the structure and hard work in Hell? The rewards of Sin were all being reaped upon the Earth right now, and the King's subjects were diving into the pool, feet first.

He walked up to the edge of the Lookout Point and looked down at the city. It was dusk now, and the stars were coming out in the sky. There were fewer city lights than there had been before all the property damage had occurred, but Crowley didn't necessarily think that was a bad thing. Like Castiel, he was an old-school type of entity, who didn't always think that modern was better. Maybe his Demons were doing the humans a favour, in a strange way. Not that they would look at it that way, of course.

It was funny, really. The King of Hell used to think that this was what he wanted: his Demons running roughshod over the Earth. Murder and mayhem. His way, or the highway. But to what end, exactly? If Crowley were to take the planet for his own, what would he do with it? He gave a short laugh. What an arse he'd been. A first-class, bloody fool.

The only way to restore order would be for his subjects to realize that they were better off in Hell than they were on Earth. But there was very little to discourage them from pursuing their nefarious activities here on Earth, at the moment.

Crowley frowned, deep in thought. He could just pop around and start corralling them all, box their ears, and send them back to the Kingdom. But he believed that would be the wrong approach in this particular situation. Besides, he was extremely powerful, but there was only one of him. None of his lieutenants could be trusted. They were all sharpening their blades, looking for the opportunity. No; if he was going to scare a bunch of Demons into running back to Hell with their figurative tails between their legs, he needed to put the fear of God into them.

But there was no God here, and the most fearsome Angel the side of Good had at their disposal was spending way too much of his blade-wielding time playing wet nurse to his equally ferocious wife, whose brain had turned to tapioca, at the latest report.

What did one bring, for a visit to a catatonic patient? Did it even matter? Crowley thought with wry humour. It's not like she would know the difference, anyway.

He snapped his fingers and disappeared, just as the sun began to set over the city.

VIGNETTE - FOOL'S GOLD

Cas had popped up to Canada to take Dean to see Nicole, and the men received some encouraging news from the nurse who had been changing the bedding. About an hour or so ago, just as the health care professional had been putting a new blanket on the bed at Nicole's feet, the patient had stirred. The nurse had looked up excitedly, waiting to see if the patient would wake. She hadn't, but they had taken her for an emergency EEG, which had shown some brain wave activity that hadn't been there before. It was only a matter of time until she regained consciousness, the doctor had told an elated Dean, and he had hugged Cas fiercely. If they were going to get Nicole back, they would get Gail back too, Dean assured Cas. He was positive.

Cas had returned Dean's embrace with a crooked smile on his face. It was wonderful news about Nicole, but Cas wasn't so sure about Gail. After he had taken her hand for the first time, Cas had slowly started to institute a bit more physical contact, embracing her and kissing her in greeting when he arrived and holding her hand the whole time. When that hadn't gotten a response, he'd resorted to pleading with her, reminding her of how things were between them. He talked about Frank, Sam and Dean, Gabriel, and the rest of their Angel family. Didn't she miss all of the fun they used to have together? His tactics had become a bit questionable, in his desperation for her to come out of it. There wouldn't really be very many happy times ahead, as decimated as their family was becoming. If Gail came back to them, she would be coming back to a very different world than the one that she had left.

As Dean sat down next to Nicole and held her hand, Cas realized with horror that he had thought the word "if", not "when", Gail came back to them. Now, he was really scared. What hadn't he done, yet? What hadn't he tried?

So far, he had only been talking about the wonderful times they'd had. Maybe he needed to show her, instead. "I need to go see Gail for a bit," Cas said to Dean now. "Call me, or Bobby, or Gabriel, when you need a lift."

Dean nodded in understanding. Now that they'd received the good news about Nicole, Cas wanted to see if he could get through to Gail. They always said that bad news came in bunches; maybe good news could too, for a freaking change.

"Hello, sweetheart," Crowley said to Gail. She didn't react to his sudden appearance, or his greeting. He approached her, looking curiously at her face. Unless this was a damn good act, she really did appear to be catatonic. "Hell-oooo," he said softly, waving his hand in front of her face. "Anyone home?"

There didn't seem to be. He drew up a chair, facing her. "Here's the situation," the King of Hell said conversationally. "While I agree that a vacation can be very relaxing, this little breakdown of yours is a luxury none of us can afford, right now. So I'm going to put my hand on your head, and in a few minutes, you'll be right as rain."

Crowley put his hand on her head, and there was no reaction from her at all. Now he was convinced she wasn't faking. There was no way she would sit there so calmly and allow him to do this. No way. She would be smacking his hand, telling him to get lost. He was dreaming if he thought he was getting in there. Crowley's lips twitched. He'd missed their repartee. But he'd better get to it, now. Her room was blessedly Castiel-free at the moment, but he didn't know how long it would remain that way. He was sitting in a dark room with his brother's wife, about to enter her mind. They would have to invent a new word for the level of anger Cas would achieve if he caught Crowley doing what he was about to do. He had briefly considered calling Castiel before coming here, but the King had decided against it. His brother was abrasive at the best of times, and Crowley wasn't in the mood to face a bunch of questions about rampaging Demons. Once Gail was fixed, the tide would likely turn in the God Squad's favour. At the very least, Castiel would be in a much better frame of mind to negotiate, once he got the missus back.

Crowley entered the house of Gail's mind. Unlike Castiel and Gabriel, he wasn't a bit surprised to see its condition. He'd actually seen worse. When he had cured Bobby of the madness that Lucifer had cursed him with, Bobby's house had mostly collapsed. Gail's house was structurally intact, it was just...empty.

In a way, though, this was going to be trickier. Crowley had used his powers to just reconstruct Bobby's house. What to do, here? How to proceed? His hand was stroking his beard as he looked around at all the dusty, empty rooms.

He waved his arms, and the dust started to swirl. Maybe he would do a little light housekeeping, and then install some memories.

Crowley had no idea that Gabriel had already tried that very same thing. The dust he'd stirred up promptly flew in his face, making him sputter. He shut his eyes tight, and incredibly, he heard God's voice: "Nice try." Then, Crowley was yanked back as Gabriel had been, and his hand came flying off of Gail's head with such force that he almost fell off his chair.

What the bloody hell? he thought, shaking gritty dust from his suit jacket. Crowley wiped his face with his pocket handkerchief, staring at Gail's face. So, this was God's handiwork. What on earth had Gail done, to piss their Father off to this extent?

Well, it was a moot point, wasn't it? There was nothing that Crowley could do for her now. Unless God relented, that was. Maybe He would, eventually. But Crowley knew that this type of punishment could last for years and years.

"Good luck, sweetheart," the King said softly, winking himself out of her room.

An hour or so after Crowley's visit, as Cas was sifting through the wreckage of their house on Earth and crying silently while he did it, Gail's nose twitched. She sneezed twice, in quick succession. Then she smiled faintly. That had been kind of funny, actually. If there was anything Crowley hated, it was getting his fancy suits dirty. Served him right, for killing her in that park. Served him right for a lot of things.

If Cas had been there at that moment, his heart would have soared to see his wife smile, if only for that one brief second. But by the time he had found something to bring to her from the smoking rubble of their home, the veil had dropped again, and Gail was in the void once more.

Nicole squeezed Dean's hand, and his heart stopped for a second. Then she started to stir, and he lunged for the call button. A moment later, she opened her eyes. "What time is it?" she asked her boyfriend, and then she added, "Do we have anything in the medicine cabinet for a headache?"

By the time the nurse arrived, Dean was laughing and crying, at the same time. Nicole was dazed and disoriented, but the health care worker who came into the room assured Dean that was very normal in these types of situations. The doctor would want to examine her and there would be another round of tests, but it looked like Nicole was out of the woods now.

Dean was shooed out into the hallway while the doctor looked at Nicole, and he used the opportunity to call Sam on his cell phone with the good news. His brother was elated. Finally, something positive to share with everyone.

"Make sure Cas finds out," Dean told Sam, who frowned now. Their friend wasn't here with them, he told his brother. He was probably visiting Gail. That was OK; they would see him soon. Then he hung up, after telling Sam he would call back for an Angel Uber after he spent a bit more time with Nicole, and found out when he could bring her back to the bunker.

Cas appeared in Gail's room holding his prize: the one thing he'd been able to salvage from their house. But it was curious, because it had really had no business being there at all. Cas had been utterly amazed when he had been digging through the rubble of their home and had unearthed the stuffed penguin. The last anyone had seen of Ralph, he had been at Angela's side as always, with his best friend and constant companion, Poochie. Cas remembered the frantic search the little girl had mounted for Ralph, at the time. The adults had all pitched in, but no one had been able to turn up hide nor feather of the stuffed penguin. And now here he was in the ruins of their house, almost as if he'd migrated there, to await his original owner's return.

Cas had started to smile, then. The expression felt so foreign on his face; how long had it been since he had worn a smile? But this was his sign that Gail would come back. He was sure of it, now. If a stuffed toy had this kind of faith, then Cas supposed he'd better have it, too. That was a silly notion, of course, but as Cas pulled Ralph carefully out of the debris, he found himself talking aloud to it, anyway. "I can't wait until Gail sees you," he said to the furry little creature, shaking the dust and grit from the toy. "Now that you've come back for her, I have faith that she will come back to us."

Ralph was mute, as always. At least he and Gail would have that in common, at the moment. But Cas was sure that she would be overjoyed to see Ralph. He represented that hope that Nurse Lisa kept referring to. Every time Cas saw Lisa bustling around the hospital, tending to all those patients on her own, his admiration for her grew. She had shown Cas photos of herself and A.J. in happier times, and he'd had to remind himself that he was not the only one who was suffering, in this not-so-brave new world. Peter and Ilene only had Barry now, although they all pitched in to help, of course. Likewise, Karen and George were having to do without Ethan, after all those years of being separated from him previously. Kevin was the lone Musketeer now, and the young Prophet was without his friend and partner, Emma. Mike had been a new addition to their family, but they had all liked him very much. And the losses went back much further, from way back before the disaster that their acquisition of the Book of Life had ended up becoming. They had been warned, but they had paid no heed. If Cas had known things were going to turn out this badly, he would never have sought out the Book of Life in the first place. "Book of Life", indeed. Book of Death and Heartbreak was more like it.

But there was a glimmer of hope now. Cas winked himself over to Gail's room, holding Ralph behind his back. "I have an old friend here, who would like to say hello," he told her. Then he brought the stuffed penguin out with a bit of a flourish. "Ralph has been missing you, very much," Cas said whimsically. "Almost as much as I have. He asked me if he could come here and keep you company. Maybe you can talk to him, if you're not ready to talk to me, yet."

He'd really thought that Gail would have shown some sort of a reaction, if only even for a second. But she did not. Cas glanced down at the stuffed animal. Despite his ministrations, Ralph was still a little dusty. He shook the toy again, brushing its artificial fur. Now that Cas thought about it, it was rather ridiculous for a penguin to have fur, wasn't it? Shouldn't it have feathers? But this was a child's toy, not an actual representation of the species, Cas reminded himself. He was falling into the trap of imagining that Ralph was real. Still, as he looked closely at the glassy eyes and the crooked beak, Cas could picture little Gail as a child, talking to him as if he were. She would assign him a personality, and characteristics to match. She would imagine that Ralph was listening intently as she poured out her heart to him, and to her, his expression would change, according to what she was telling him.

Well, Gail was almost like the child she had once been now, wasn't she? Cas gave Ralph one last dusting before handing him over. It was funny, though; when he glanced down at the floor by her chair, there appeared to be quite a bit more dust and grit than there should be. Hmmm. Odd.

Cas placed Ralph gently in Gail's lap, watching her face carefully. Did he see a twitch of her lips? A flick of an eyelash? Or was he imagining it? He was hoping that her hands might move to hug Ralph to her, but they did not. Her arms remained on the armrests of the chair, but Ralph was still sitting upright in her lap, so Cas left him there. Maybe it would take a little time. Hadn't he seen a subtle change in her expression?

He sat next to her for a few more hours, alternating between speaking softly to her and watching her, to see if she would move. But she did not. There was absolutely no change. None.

To say that Cas was disappointed would have been an extreme understatement. "Fool's Gold," he murmured. All of the optimism he'd felt earlier left him at that moment. Ralph wasn't a penguin at all; he was a red herring. Fool's Gold. Loosely defined, the term meant something that seems more promising than it really is. That was certainly apt in this case, wasn't it?

Cas stood from his chair, sighing heavily. Just like he always did when he left here. When he left HER. He looked at Ralph, wondering if he should just take it to the bunker and give it back to Angela. Not "him"; it. Ralph was not real. He had no personality, and no emotions. He was just cloth, and stitching, and he had eyes of glass. For a moment, the inevitable comparison to Gail and her condition hit Cas so hard he felt dizzy.

But he couldn't quite bring himself to take Ralph from her. Her inimitable bastard of a father had already done that to Gail, when she'd been even younger than Angela was now. Even if his wife wouldn't notice Ralph's absence, Cas couldn't do that to her.

"I love you, Gail. Please watch over her for me, Ralph. Please, keep the faith that I lack," Cas said softly. He bent down to kiss Gail on her forehead, and then he winked himself away.

Cas reappeared at the Lookout Point, sinking down on the bench that was there on the crest of the hill. He put his head in his hands and wept. He'd cried plenty of times since this whole mess had started, but now, he completely let go. The skies opened up and a steady rain began to fall. Cas's self-pity had inadvertently performed a good deed: a group of Demons had set a few houses on fire further down Frank's street, and if the rain had not doused the flames, Cas's brother-in-law's home would likely also have been lost.

But the downpour was relatively brief. Cas remembered other occasions when he had gotten carried away in that regard, and the last thing the world needed on top of all the other problems it had was to be flooded right now. That thought inevitably led him to think of the time that his and Gail's roles had been reversed from what they were right now, and he had been the one who had needed her help and support. She had never given up on him, not once. Not even when Patricia had used the powers of the High Office to imprison him, drugging him to the point of madness. Nor had Gail given up on Cas when he had made that repugnant deal with the Demon Rudy that had resulted in Rob being shot, having to fight for his young life. Gail hadn't even given up on Cas when they'd both thought that he himself had been a Demon, the most vile sort of individual in existence. Even though they now knew that had never happened, in both Cas and Gail's minds, it had all been very real. Yet she hadn't even given up on him then, when every ounce of logic and self-preservation had suggested; no, SCREAMED OUT, that she should.

No. Cas would never give up on Gail, either. He couldn't possibly. She had given Cas everything. She was his entire life. Everything Cas was now, the kind of Angel he was, the kind of man he was, was all due to Gail. She had given him everything. She deserved everything he had to give, in return. He would have to find a way.

Cas popped back into Gail's room. He stood there looking at her lovingly for a moment. There had been no change in her condition or her expression, of course. Ralph was exactly where Cas had left him, too.

"I remember a song that Dean has listened to, from time to time," Cas said aloud. "The song is called 'Fool's Gold', ironically enough. That phrase usually has a very negative connotation. But the lyrics of this song would suggest otherwise. In the song, the singer states: 'I'm like a crow on a wire./You're the shining distraction that always makes me fly home./I'm like a boat on the water./You're the raise on the waves that calms my mind./But I'm not done yet/falling for you./But I don't ever regret/falling for you'."

Then he popped out again, because he didn't want her to see him crying.

Moments after Cas left for the second time, Ralph fell from Gail's lap onto the floor. She made no move to pick him up, but a tear fell from her eye, dribbled down her cheek, and splashed onto Ralph's fur. An errant puff of dust rose, and then disappeared.


	6. Absolute Beginners

Chapter 5 - Absolute Beginners

A couple more months passed, and then a couple more. Absolutely nothing had changed. Nothing. The Demons were still rampaging, and people were still dying by the thousands. For every group of Demons the humans and the Angels were able to dispatch, more and more came to take their place. For every victim they were able to save, the human corpses seemed to multiply exponentially. They had ceased attempting to rebuild the city, because the black-eyed bastards just kept on burning it down.

Cas had reached the end of his rope. Something had to change, and it had to change now. He had attempted to summon Crowley numerous times, but the King of Hell had refused to acknowledge his messages. Not that Cas could blame him, really. Surely, the King of Hell knew that Castiel was poised to take his anger and despair out on the head Demon, whether Crowley had endorsed his minions' activities, or not.

The day after Cas had brought Ralph to Gail, his pulse had quickened when he'd seen that the stuffed penguin was on the bed, on top of the bedspread. Gail was sitting in her chair, as always, but Ralph had certainly not moved over there by himself. Cas had looked at Gail excitedly, but then his hopes had been dashed a moment later when Nurse Lisa had come into the room. She'd popped in to check on Gail, she'd told Cas. She wasn't surprised to see him there, of course. Cas came and went at all hours. Sometimes, he would help her to make her rounds, to check on the other patients. He had even assisted her in making beds and passing out the meds, at times. The patients were in varying states, but most of them were docile. In a couple of instances, if they'd become agitated, Cas would touch their foreheads gently and surreptitiously, and they would calm down. If only he could help his wife the same way. But Cas felt sorry for Lisa. She ran herself ragged caring for all of these poor people, and she received no recompense or even thanks for it.

Lisa informed him that she was the one who'd picked Ralph up and put him on the bed. She'd assumed that Cas had brought the stuffed animal to give to his wife, but the toy had been laying on the dusty floor. So Lisa had picked it up and shaken the dust and grit off of it, then deposited the stuffed animal on the bed. She'd gotten a broom and dustpan and cleaned up the dirt from the floor, and then she'd gone on her rounds.

It hadn't been Gail at all, Cas thought disconsolately. Nothing had changed. Cas had rushed out of the room, ignoring Lisa's shocked expression, and he had stayed away for a while after that.

The next time he had been able to bring himself to go, Cas had found Lisa sitting in the nurses' lounge, sobbing.

"What's the matter?" Cas asked her.

"A.J. is dead," she told him in an anguished voice. "He ran into a burning building to save some people who were trapped inside, and he didn't come back out."

"I'm so sorry, Lisa," Cas said, putting his hand on her shoulder. His heart felt like it weighed several tons, right now. How could the Almighty Father just keep on taking and taking from the good and decent people of the Earth? How much was too much? How much was enough?

THIS was. This was it. Cas excused himself, and once he was out of her sight, he teleported over to the Lookout Point. "What do You want?" he shouted. "What more do You want from us?"

There was no answer, of course. But Cas was going to get someone to talk to him, right now. He was in a white-hot rage. At God, at Crowley, at himself...and, truthfully, at Gail. How could she leave him like this? How could she put him through this daily torment?

He popped over to Gail's room and picked her up in his arms, chair and all. "You need to see this," he said to her through gritted teeth. Cas popped her over to the Lookout Point, setting her down on the crest of the hill to face the sight of the carnage below.

"Look!" he exclaimed. "Look at the world, now! Look at what you and I have done! You just sit there in a dark room, day after day, blissfully oblivious to everything that is going on. Millions upon millions, dead. Others are being tortured, raped, or burned alive. Entire cities are on fire. People have lost all hope. I have lost all hope! What's the matter with you? Do you want me to just go away, and leave you alone? Is that what you want?"

Cas was panting now, out of breath from his tirade. His poor, sweet Gail. She didn't deserve this. He had simply reached his breaking point, and he was taking it out on her.

"Please don't yell at me, Cas," Gail said quietly. "You know I never liked that. No, I don't want you to leave me alone. Please don't do that."

Cas was overjoyed. He fell to his knees beside her. She was back! She was here with him! He touched her face. Her eyes were clear and focused, and she was looking into his eyes.

"Are you really here?" he said in a hushed tone.

"I'm really here," Gail said, sighing. "I'm sorry, Cas."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he said firmly. "I'm sorry I shouted at you. I should not have done that. Can you please forgive me?"

She made a face. "At the risk of setting a really dangerous precedent, I have to be honest with you: that's what got my attention."

Cas smiled. He couldn't help it. This was the Gail he loved, all right. He took her hands in his. She was so cute. "I promise you that I will never shout at you again."

Gail winced. "You might change your mind, once I tell you the whole truth." She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "I wish you'd just left me crazy, Cas."

"You don't mean that," he said quickly, giving her hands a squeeze.

Gail sighed again. "I have a confession to make. I've been back for a while, now. I was just hiding away, from everybody, and everything. Even from you, Cas. WE didn't cause this." She gestured towards the wreckage. "It was ME. I did it. I was selfish, and greedy. I wanted everything to be my way. Well, look where that got me: some crazy lady, wasting away in a mental institution. Sitting there in the dark, while all of you were out here, dealing with THAT. I have no one to blame but myself, Cas. It's only fair that you should yell at me. It's what I deserve."

"That's what I've been waiting all this time to hear," God said. He had suddenly appeared at the precipice of the Lookout Point. He levitated there for a moment, and then He floated down to solid ground. "I'm sorry for the showboating. I don't often get the opportunity to do that, any more," God said, his lips twitching. He approached the couple, as Cas stood to his full height. He looked at God apprehensively. What did He intend to do to them now?

"Relax, My children," God said calmly. "My anger has dissipated. Now, I have a question for you: if you could bring back one person who has died unfairly, knowing what you know now, who would you choose?"

Gail rose unsteadily from her chair. Her legs were weak, but she wanted to stand beside her husband now, both literally and figuratively. He put his arms around her, holding her up. They looked at each other, and a moment later, they nodded in agreement with one another. In these times, kindness was the only currency that really mattered.

Lisa's cell phone rang. It was A.J.'s partner calling, and he was both laughing and crying, shouting excitedly that A.J. had come out of the burning building, carrying a baby in his arms. He'd thrust the kid into his mother's arms, and then collapsed on the front lawn, coughing and wheezing. It was an honest-to-God miracle, A.J.'s partner told Lisa. They'd all thought he was a goner. The paramedics were taking him to St. Joe's for smoke inhalation, but otherwise, he was going to be fine. A.J.'s buddy was commandeering their cruiser right now for a road trip, and he would pick Lisa up in about twenty minutes to take her to see her boyfriend. Less, if he put the siren and the flashers on.

Lisa hung up the phone, dazed. She couldn't believe it! A.J. was alive? A.J. was alive!

But she paused now. How could she leave all of the people that were here in the hospital to their own devices? She had been living here, available to them 24/7. She was all they had. She needed to be with A.J., but how could she desert her patients?

Then, another miracle: Dr. Michaels poked his head into the nurses' lounge. Lisa stared at him, open-mouthed. She hadn't seen him in months! Where had he been, all this time?

He wasn't inclined to tell her. All the psychiatrist said was that she was hereby relieved of duty. He wanted her to throw some things in a bag and go home, for at least a week. Spend some time with A.J. He would take it from here.

He didn't have to tell her twice. Lisa jumped up from her chair. She hugged the doctor impulsively on her way out.

God smiled as He watched Lisa get into the police cruiser, about fifteen minutes later. He had appeared to her in the form of Dr. Michaels so that the nurse would feel that she was leaving the patients in good hands. And she would be, of course. The unfortunate Dr. Michaels had been killed by Demons a few months ago, but God wouldn't let Lisa down. He planned to stay here Himself, until each and every patient in the place was cured. Lisa would be out of a job, but God would make sure that she and A.J. were all right. Somehow, He didn't think the couple would mind too much. They would just be so happy to be reunited, and as soon as A.J. had recovered, he was going to propose. And maybe there would be a little bundle of joy in the near future, as well.

But God was putting the cart before the horse, now. It was time for the End of Times to end, and the Beginning to begin. When Castiel and Gail had told Him that they wanted the man that Lisa loved so dearly to be the one who was brought back, God was satisfied that the lesson had been taken. It had been the most severe one that He had ever taught, but there had been a point to it. No one should presume to play God, and the natural order of things had to be preserved. It was apparent to Him that they knew that now, and they had also been selfless and compassionate in their decision to ask Him to restore A.J.'s life, instead of any one of a number of their own family that they could have asked for. That had been their way of thanking Lisa for her kindness in taking care of Gail all this time, and God's reward to the nurse and her police officer boyfriend for all of their service.

God was pleased by the way things had turned out, overall. Now, the healing could begin. He was a fan of the song that Castiel and Gail sang with their family every year at Christmas: Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with Me. It was time for the Beginning to Begin.

Gail stood at the precipice of the Lookout Point. Cas was hovering nervously by her side. Once they'd asked God to bring A.J. back for Lisa, the Almighty Father had smiled and said, "Thy will be done." Then He had embraced them both, assured them that everything would be fine, and winked Himself away.

But Gail was still despondent. "How can everything be OK, Cas?" she said sadly. "Look at the state of the world, now."

"We have each other," Cas told her. "That's the most important thing. And, we have Frank, and Sam and Dean, and Gabriel, and - "

She interrupted her husband, looking at him pleadingly. "No!" she wailed. "No, Cas! That's how it always starts for us! Can't you see? The instant we start loving somebody, we've already started losing them."

Cas was frustrated. He reached out for her, but she backed up a step, and she was so close to the edge of the cliff, as it was. So he put his hands in his jacket pockets to stave off the temptation to reach for her again, and he backed up a few steps, for good measure.

Then, a strange thing happened: Cas's face broke into a smile. Gail looked at him, bewildered. Didn't he understand what she was saying? Didn't he understand how guilty she felt?

"No," Cas said calmly. "I lovingly disagree. May I please embrace you? Please?"

She let out a breath. Now he was giving her the puppydog eyes. Who was she kidding? She had missed him so much. Cas was the one thing, the only one who had prevented her from just checking out of everything, for good. There was no way she would have been able to leave him. He was her whole life.

Gail walked into Cas's arms. He hugged her tightly, and then he pulled out of the embrace so that he could look at her face. Impulsively, he kissed her on her nose, and she smiled, for just a moment. But that one moment was everything to him.

"Love is the cure," Cas told his wife. "It's what saved me. It's the only thing we have left. The key to everything."

The two of them looked at each other. Why did that sound so familiar? Cas took her hand. "I say that, because our hands fit perfectly together," he continued. "Because every time we kiss, my heart overflows with love. That's why. That's how I know. We will find a way to make things okay again, my darling. We will. Do you love me, still?"

"Yes, of course I do, Cas," Gail said without hesitation. "Everything that you said is right."

"Do you trust me?" Cas asked her now.

It was a bit of a peculiar question, but she replied honestly, "With everything I have, and everything I am."

"Then there's only one thing we can do to fix everything, and that's not to fix it at all," Cas stated.

Gail looked at him, astonished. What the hell was the matter with him? How could he say that? But Cas held up a hand. "You said you trusted me, did you not?"

"Yes, of course I did, but - " Then her mouth fell open. "Cas? What's going on?"

"It may not even work," he said slowly. "The choice will be yours, of course. If you decide to go a different way with it, I will follow. I will defer to whatever you decide, without complaint. I have learned my lesson. I will never be without you again, and I will never, ever give you up. But I'm not going to try to impose my will on you, Gail. You've had quite enough of that, in your existence." He let out a breath. "This is the only way I can think of to restore things to the way they were before. But it has to be your decision, not mine. As I've said, it may not even work. I've been wrong before. Many, many times, in fact."

Gail considered this. Yes, he had. When Cas had used his page from the Book of Life, the one that Death had given him, he had set this whole crappy life they'd been leading in motion. But Gail was far from blameless in this whole mess, too. By stubbornly refusing to accept what God had told them had to be done, and telling the Almighty Father that He was wrong, she had made it much, much worse. She said this to Cas now, squeezing his hand gently.

"You're not the only one who's been wrong, sweetie," she said softly. "But I think I know what you're getting at, now. 'But only one key opens', remember? It's love. You said it yourself, just a minute ago. Love is the key to everything."

Cas nodded. "Yes. Love for ourselves, for each other, and for others. If kindness is currency, love is the air that we breathe. It's the only thing that matters."

And then Cas brought the last surviving page from the Book of Life out from the pocket of his jacket, where God had placed it when He'd embraced his Son, a short while ago.

"We have to go through it all again, ever since the day you and I met at the bunker, exactly as it happened at the time," Cas said solemnly. "No changes, no deviations. We have to let it all unfold as God had intended, and trust that He will be merciful."

Gail's heart sank. God sure hadn't been too merciful lately, had He? But they had truly learned their lesson now. Hadn't they?

"You realize what that means, don't you?" Cas continued. He wanted to be absolutely sure. "Do you realize what you'll have to sacrifice? All of the pain? The deaths? The..."

Gail knew exactly what he was going to say next. She sighed heavily. "...the Demon period," she finished for him.

She could see the pain in Cas's eyes. Then, he hung his head. "Yes. Even that," he said softly.

Gail nodded slowly. Of course. In a lot of ways, that would be the worst of all of it. But then, she remembered how wonderful it had been, how liberating, to find out that it had never happened at all. Metatron had modified their memories at the time, simply because he could, to make them both believe that Cas had been a sadistic, self-centered Demon bastard, who had been so insecure about Gail's love that he'd had to threaten and subjugate her so that she would stay with him. And, for Gail's part, she'd had such low self-esteem that she'd believed for a time that it was all right to let him. Now that the both of them knew that none of it had been real, she had no idea how they had ever believed, even for one second, that it HAD been. That wasn't who Cas was, and it wasn't who Gail was, either.

Now, her mind shifted to think about all the times that God had allowed her and Cas to find each other over the years, only to separate them, under cruel circumstances. Had Metatron really been the architect behind that whole Demon thing, or had it actually been God, pulling yet another one of His famous tests? Had they passed, or failed?

Yes, it would hurt like hell to have to go through that again. But if that was what she would have to agree to, to restore order in the world, Gail would just have to suck it up. After all, she was just as much to blame for what was going on now, if not more so, than Cas. And she knew that it would really hurt her husband to have to undergo that whole ugly time almost as much as it would hurt her. That would sound like a real cliche in most cases, but in Cas's case, it was the absolute truth. It would torment him to be under the impression he was hurting her like that. He had come close to suicide more than a few times, back then. And then, he had actually done it, when Raguel had been trying to force him to hurt Gail. She had no doubt that he'd had the Demon delusion in his mind when he'd made that decision. Oh, great. That meant that they would have to re-live THAT whole thing, too. Cas's death. Her bloody sojourn in Hell. Great. Terrific. But, if they were going to bring everything back in line to the way it had been, to before she and Cas had messed up so badly, everything would need to happen exactly the way that it had happened back then.

Gail touched her husband's face. "OK, Cas. Okay. Give me a kiss, a really good one, and then do it. Before I change my mind." She gave him a wry smile.

Cas took her in his arms. "I have always loved you, and I always will," he said softly. "Please try to remember that, even at the worst of times. Everything we're about to go through is for that love, and for the love of our family."

Gail nodded again. He was right. That wouldn't really make it hurt much less, if at all. But she would try to remember it, if she could.

The two of them shared the most tender, loving kiss that they had ever experienced. Then Cas put the last page from the Book of Life into both of their hands, speaking the words in the ancient language. And then they vanished, to go back and re-live it all, from the beginning.

To paraphrase a song about beginnings, the singer states that he has nothing much to offer, because he is a beginner, presumably at the art of love.

This was the way that Castiel felt, when he and Gail made their first tentative steps towards a relationship. But he didn't let it deter him, and he tried not to allow his insecurities to drive him to the brink this time, as they had before.

Gail's eyes were open wider this time, and she stood up for herself a little more, as a result.

God went a bit easier on the couple this time around, but they were still put through their paces. Bad things still happened to them and their family, and the loved ones who had died prior to the ill-fated trip to Mount Kilimanjaro remained dead. God had considered that fact very carefully. But in the end, He'd had no choice but to stand by His decisions. Otherwise, His point, and the larger lesson, would have been lost.

But, once the Angels brought a devastated Frank and Rob home from that Florida hospital with Eric's body wrapped in a shroud, the re-set was complete. There would be no riddles, no expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro, and no Book of Life. Therefore, Hester, Carolyn, Mike and Ethan were all still alive. However, on the other side of the equasion, so were Patricia and Blaise, and the Almighty had also made an arbitrary decision to allow Abbadon to continue her existence on Earth. She and Rowena were going to ply their trade unencumbered for a while, and then, God would see what happened. He had the feeling that their particular skills might come in handy in the not-so-distant future. He had moved a few chess pieces around the board recently, and the idea pleased Him. He couldn't say why, exactly. Maybe it was because Crowley had faced no real challenges for a while. Their paths would cross from time to time, of course, but Castiel was going to be very busy soon, dealing with some challenges of his own. Not that anything new was going to be thrown in his and Gail's path, not for some time. But His Son and Daughter still had quite a bit of old business to take care of: in Paris, New Orleans, and much closer to home, in the form of a Beast, disguised as a baby. Luckily for them, the resumation of their current circumstances had taken place before Vincent had visited Becky that day, and been given the idea for the Aging spell. But it was only a matter of time.

First things first, though. At this particular moment, there were a very sad and angry group of people sitting around the library room table, talking.


	7. Questions 67 And 68

Chapter 6 - Questions 67 And 68

Everyone was having a drink, even the Angels. Frank had proposed a toast to Eric, the fallen Hunter, and they had all felt like they should participate.

The men still smelled like smoke, from the pyre that they had lit beneath Eric's body. Rob had advised his dad that the brothers had talked about this kind of situation. Of course they had. They were Hunters, and they had seen way too much violence and death in their young lives. Eric had told Rob that if his time ever came, he wanted a Hunter's funeral. There was just something about it that seemed noble to him. Rob had rolled his eyes. Yeah. Right. Eric hadn't been around when they'd had that Hunter funeral for Dean, so it was easy for him to say. As it turned out, that hadn't been Dean who the men had burned after all, but they hadn't known that at the time.

And now, Ron had undergone the worst rite of passage a Hunter could ever experience; he had been one of the torch bearers at his own brother's funeral. But this time, there had been no bait-and-switch. That had been Eric they'd burned, all right. Rob had wrapped his brother in that shroud, himself. And he'd done it BY himself. His Dad, Gramps, and Uncles Sam and Dean and Cas had all offered to help, but he had turned them all down. Rob had wanted to have one last conversation with his brother. It would be pretty one-sided, he'd thought, channeling Frank's sense of humour for a moment. But, still.

So Rob had poured his heart out to Eric as he was wrapping him in the shroud. He'd Googled how to do that. It was amazing, the stuff you could find online. Rob hadn't wanted to ask any of the men how to do it, because he was afraid he would start bawling his eyes out. He knew that none of them would rag on him for it, but he still hadn't wanted to do it. As it was, he did plenty of crying during the procedure. Rob told Eric how great it had been to have a brother, and how much he was going to miss him. He'd tried to joke around like his Dad would about how he wouldn't miss Eric's smelly socks laying around all over the place, and the fact that his brother never, ever loaded the dishwasher, but then, Rob had to stop. He was a liar. He WOULD miss all those things. He would gladly put up with all of Eric's bad habits, if it meant that he could have him back again.

But as Rob completed his sad task, he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. As heartbroken as he was right now, he had to remind himself that he wasn't the only one in their family who was grieving the loss of someone. In fact, everybody was, at the moment.

So they'd held the service, and Rob, Frank, Bobby, Sam, Dean and Cas had all been torch bearers. That was more than was necessary, but they'd all wanted to show their support for Rob by standing beside him.

Now, the nucleus members of the family were sitting around having a drink to Eric's memory. Karen was babysitting Angela back at Frank's house, and Ethan had taken Barry, Carolyn, Mike and the kids back to Canada. The adults had all attended the service, but the kids had not. They'd had way too many funerals in their family lately, and a general consensus had been reached that the children really didn't need to see a body being burned.

The topic at hand now was: Why? Why had Eric's adoptive mother shot him?

"I told you, Uncle Cas, I have no idea," Rob said. "It all happened so fast."

Cas pursed his lips, frustrated. He didn't want to interrogate his nephew, but there had to be something, some hint of a motive. "What were the three of you talking about, before Eric went upstairs?"

Rob sighed. "Just...stuff. Nothing weird. She wasn't being super friendly, but that wasn't unusual. I don't remember ever seeing her even smile, when we went to see her. It was like he wasn't welcome there, or something."

Gail's mind was working furiously. There was something really fishy going on, here. Well, aside from the fact that a woman who had adopted a baby and raised him all these years would just suddenly turn a gun on him, that was. Aside from that. She tried to imagine Frank's mom shooting her. No. No way. They'd had their differences, of course, but the notion was beyond ridiculous. What were they missing here?

"Wait a minute," Rob said. "I just remembered: besides that cabinet I told you guys about, there were a bunch of pictures on the walls."

"Pictures? Do you mean paintings?" Sam asked the young man.

"No; like, photos," Rob responded. "Of people."

Cas and Gabriel exchanged glances. "There wasn't anything like that when we went back there," Gabriel commented. "The walls were bare, and the weapons were gone."

"What was that thing she said, right before she threw that damn gris-gris bag on the floor?" Bobby asked aloud. Heads swiveled to look at him. "What?" he said, shrugging. "I know a thing or two about a thing or two, ya know. Who do you think taught these two everything?" He thumbed a gesture towards Sam and Dean.

Dean grumbled something that sounded like "not everything," and Frank's lips twitched briefly.

Gail and Cas were looking at each other. "It was French, but..." Cas started to say, and his wife was nodding. "It wasn't really proper French, though," she added, looking thoughtful. Then, her expression brightened. "You know what it reminded me of? The kind of Franch they spoke in New Orleans. Creole."

"Oh, THAT'S why it sounded so strange," Cas said. His forehead wrinkled. "The only word I could make out was 'manteau'. That means coat, or more precisely, a cloak."

"A cloaking spell?" Sam said, and several of them nodded.

"Great," Bobby fumed. "So she's taken a powder, who knows where, with a buncha weapons, planning who knows what. That about sum it up?"

They all looked at each other uncomfortably. Maybe Bobby was overstating it a bit, but not by much. No one was forgetting that Alice had shot at Rob, too.

"I have an idea," Sam said suddenly. "You guys can search peoples' minds, right? Why don't one of you do that with Rob? You might be able to elicit some more information, kind of like a hypnotist would." He looked at Rob. "Sometimes, when you've been through a traumatic experience, your mind represses certain facts about that experience."

Bobby was nodding. "That's a great idea. How about it, Rob? I can do it right now."

But Rob was pale now. "No. No, I don't want any of you guys to do that."

Cas thought he might know what the young man's objection was all about. "If you're worried about your privacy, all you need to do is concentrate. You can close the doors of the rooms where your personal memories are stored, and if you lock them, we cannot enter."

"Look, Rob, I'm not gonna look at anything personal. You have my word," Bobby assured him. "Believe me, anything you wouldn't want me to see is something I have no interest in seeing." His beard twitched. "I'm sure it would be the same, if it was the other way around."

Rob did a double-take. Ewww. He loved his Gramps, but he didn't want to think about anything like THAT in connection with him. But it wasn't that kind of stuff that was concerning Rob. It was his visions. They were random, and they were something he couldn't control. The Angels described a person's mind like it was a house with a bunch of rooms that contained memories, thoughts, hopes and dreams. Sounded pretty straightforward. But a psychic's mind worked differently. Rob could close and lock all the doors he wanted, and then suddenly, one of his visions would go running down the hall like a streaker on the field at a baseball game. Unexpected, and totally uncontrollable.

And even that might not be so bad, if Rob hadn't had the vision he'd had just after Eric's funeral. As they were walking to the bunker door, Sam had put his hand on Rob's shoulder to comfort him, and Rob had put his hand on Sam's. All of a sudden, the young man had seen Sam's son Brian. Becky was holding the baby, bouncing him gently up and down, and Rob had smiled. Cute kid. He was looking forward to hanging around with Brian when he got a little older. Maybe Becky would let Rob babysit, sometimes. He guessed they were sort of like cousins, in a way. He could tell Becky and Sam that he used to help his mom and dad out a lot with Angela. Family had always been really important to all of them, and it was especially important to Rob now that they'd lost so many loved ones recently.

But just as Rob had been about to make some kind of comment to Sam about baby Brian, the vision had changed. The infant began to wriggle in Becky's arms, and suddenly, Brian started to grow, bigger and bigger. Becky let go of him and he stood on the ground, so big that he looked like he was around ten years old. Suddenly, Brian took a knife out of his pants pocket, and attacked Becky with it. And, if that wasn't shocking enough, Rob saw Vincent standing next to Brian, and Vincent was laughing. What the hell?!

Rob had that in the back of his mind now, as Bobby was talking about looking in there. What if he saw something like THAT? Rob had no idea what it meant, but if Vincent was involved, it could only be bad. Rob's biological father had had a big black mark on his face that hadn't been there before, but it was definitely him. But why would he be with Becky and Brian, and why would Rob's vision show Brian killing his own mom? No. Until he saw more, there was no way Rob wanted Bobby or any of them going in his head.

"I want to go to a hypnotist," Rob blurted out. They were all looking at him funny now, but he didn't care. That would be all they needed, wouldn't it? He'd much rather keep the Angels out of his head now, until he could figure out what was going on.

Frank drained his beer. "OK, I don't know about anybody else, but I'm exhausted," he said. He looked at Gail. "Can you give me a lift, kiddo?"

"I want to come, too," Rob said, getting to his feet. "Is it OK if I stay at the house tonight, Dad?"

A lump formed in Frank's throat. "Ummm...yeah, Rob. It's your house, too. Stay as long as you want." He slung his arm around his son's shoulders. "You stay as long as you want."

Michelle and Benoit were talking on the phone. She had spent a couple of months in Paris during the summer, shopping and sightseeing. Ben, as she called him now, had joined her when he was able. They'd had fun, and she had to admit she'd enjoyed all of the pomp and privilege that accompanied having the President of the country as a fiance. Even when he'd had to work, Ben had dispatched an official car to take her anywhere she'd wanted to go. And practically everywhere she'd gone, Michelle had been greeted with a great deal of warmth and affection. Her fiance was the greatest leader France had ever had, people told her. Everyone felt safe to walk the streets again. There hadn't been one single terrorist threat since Monsieur Levesque had instituted his new policies. That was wonderful, she'd said. Maybe Michelle should talk to her fiance about arranging a state visit, so that he could teach her own President a few things. Then whoever she was talking to would laugh, and Michelle would laugh, and then she would change the subject. She was in Paris on a pleasure trip, and besides, Ms. Delacroix knew nothing about politics. She would leave matters like that in Monsieur Levesque's eminently capable hands.

The bloom was not yet off the rose for Michelle and Benoit, nor for the President and his people. The strategy of instituting the policy changes he'd wanted done slowly and gradually had turned out to be a brilliant one. Little by little, France was becoming a police state, and the beauty of it was that hardly anyone had even noticed. The bottom line was that Benoit had told the people that he was going to take action once he'd attained the office to make them all feel safe again, and he had. No one had really questioned his methods, because they had been so successful. Soon that status would change, as the laws and policies became more and more reminiscent of a Reich, rather than a Republic.

But at the moment, romance was alive and well in France, and between the engaged couple, as well.

"What would you say to a Christmas wedding?" Benoit was asking Michelle now. "We could have a candle-lit mass, on Christmas Eve. Wouldn't that be romantic?"

Michelle's heart sank. Yes. Yes, it would. There was only one problem: she couldn't do it. "I'm sorry, mon cher, but I'm committed to the Board of Directors for the Mardi Gras festivities. We'll probably have to be working through much of the Chrsitmas season."

Benoit frowned. Working through the Christmas season? Wasn't that sacrilege? Once the two of them were married, they were going to have to have a little chat about certain things, going forward. He understood that she meant well, and he also understood that although Michelle was a wealthy woman in her own right, she needed something to occupy her time. That was all right; once she was France's First Lady, there would be plenty for her to do. The polls his people had taken showed that his constituents liked Michelle, very much. She would be his Evita, going out there every day, greeting the good people of France. Performing charitable works, and endearing herself even more to them. Making Benoit look kind and benevolent, even as his laws gradually became more and more Draconian. "Bait and switch", was the commonly-used expression. By the time he was ready to institute the final solution, it would be much too late for anyone to stop him.

And he had his insurance, in the form of seven very eager young cabinet members with very special abilities, who were only too happy to show them off. Vincent's children would be of great use to him once the noose tightened around the necks of the people Benoit wanted gone.

Benoit didn't let on to Michelle that he was angry. He would just have to be patient a little longer. He could do that. After the President had practiced self-denial for a short time, he had decided that he didn't care for it. So when Michelle was overseas and unavailable to him, Benoit wined and dined one of his cabinet members, under the guise of business. After careful consideration, he had chosen young Lorrie for his mistress. He would have preferred Ursula; she was the epitome of Aryan beauty. But Ursula had too much venom in her personality. Lorrie was vain and spoiled, but she was also a great believer in the barter system. When Benoit did nice things for Lorrie, she was more than happy to do nice things for him. What they did after hours would not hurt Michelle, because she would not know about it. And if Benoit wanted to carry on a dalliance or two once he and Michelle were married, well, c'est la vie. The French were more relaxed about those types of things than the uptight Americans were. In many European countries, a man was almost expected to have a tryst outside his marriage, from time to time.

"A spring wedding in Paris would be lovely, though," Michelle said now. "The Mardi Gras season wraps up in early March. How does April sound to you?"

"Lovely," Benoit said, smiling.

Becky woke up in a cold sweat. She'd had that dream again. It always started out so good: she and Sam were in bed together, naked, and he was doing things to her, things she'd only read about. But they were all fantastic, because it was Sam who was doing them.

They'd bought a cute little two-storey house in the country, and the yellow schoolbus came to the end of their driveway every day to pick Brian up for school in the morning. He was always older in her dreams, because Becky was sick and tired of changing diapers and wiping up spit. In dreams, you could make anything happen. So in Becky's dreams, when Brian went off to school with his backpack and his lunch that Becky had so lovingly prepared, Brian's mom and dad went back upstairs and did it, over and over again. Sam wanted a little sister for Brian, so they were having sex a lot. Which suited Becky just fine. Sam didn't need to know that she was taking The Pill every morning with her coffee. Becky loved Sam, but there was no way she was going to even consider going back to the diapers, and the spit. Hey, she'd given him a Winchester boy, hadn't she? Then hadn't she done enough?

In the dream, Sam had installed a great big mirror in the bedroom, and Becky found herself watching the two of them going at it far more often than she probably should. Maybe it was because they were both so good-looking, and they looked so sexy together. It was kind of like watching a porno that you could feel, if that made any sense. Sam was so handsome, so muscular. And boy, was he good. It was a good thing their nearest neighbour lived a couple of miles away, in her fantasies. When her husband did certain things to her, things that maybe weren't so gentle, Becky tended to get noisy.

And then that's when things in the dream would either get really, really good, or extremely bad, depending on which version it happened to be. In the good version, when Becky started to express herself, Sam would get really intense, and Becky would get carried away by the waves of pleasure she felt. Then Sam would be kissing her, and she would be kissing him, and it was all just so...good.

But, in the other version, when Becky started to make noise, Sam would get rough. Pulling her hair, choking her, hurting her in other ways. And sometimes, even that wasn't too bad, until she looked in the mirror and saw that it was Vincent doing that stuff to her. And other times, Sam and Vincent kind of morphed together. One time, it was Sam, but he had that big black mark on his face that Vincent had, and when he'd seen her looking, his eyes had gone red.

It had been another one of those kinds of dreams that had woken her up this morning. As soon as she sat up in bed, she listened intently for any sounds coming from Brian. Thankfully, all was quiet at the moment. Becky must not have cried out in her sleep, this time. She looked towards the foot of the bed. Becky had moved Brian back into her room, after his crib had just suddenly collapsed one day. Now he was in his bassinet on top of the chest, so she could keep him near. Brian was a needy baby, so it was just as well. But right now, Becky had to pee like crazy. So she eased the covers off of herself and crept quietly past him into the bathroom.

Becky washed her face and hands afterwards, and looked at herself in the mirror. She still looked pretty good, but she was tired. Were those bags under her eyes? She had to get more sleep. Sometimes she lived for those dreams, but when they turned bad, she could never get back to sleep afterwards.

She went back into the bedroom, looking down at Brian. He was sleeping peacefully. Must be nice.

Becky was starting to get a hinky feeling. Actually, if she was being honest with herself, she'd had it for quite some time, now. She wasn't attracted to Vincent; not even a little bit. It didn't make sense that she should be dreaming that kind of stuff about him. And it was even worse when that ugly black mark that Vincent had on his face appeared on Sam's face in the dream, or when Vincent's head appeared on Sam's body.

She wished she could figure out what to do about it. They said that a lot of dreams you had on a regular basis had a hidden meaning. If only she could...then, Becky remembered: maybe there WAS something she could do. She moved over to where her purse sat, on the dresser. A few days ago, she'd run into Trudy, one of the older models from the agency. They'd gone to the Food Court in the mall for coffee, and Trudy had oohed and aahed over Brian.

"So THIS is why we never see you anymore!" Trudy had exclaimed delightedly. Then she'd started talking baby talk to Brian, as Becky tried not to roll her eyes.

They'd talked for a little while about how everybody was doing, and then Becky'd started to realize how lonely she was. She hardly ever saw Sam any more, and she was never invited to any of their social events. Probably because Gail was usually behind most of the party planning, and she didn't like Becky. The way Becky saw it, that must be the reason.

"What's the matter, Becky?" Trudy asked her.

Becky sighed. "I think I might have that post-whatever depression thing," she said to the woman. "I'm not really sleeping much."

"You should call the guy I've been seeing," Trudy had told her, rummaging in her purse. She came up with a business card, handing it to the girl. "Dr. Esmond is great. I was depressed myself, a while ago, and he helped me. I quit smoking, and I was stuffing myself. I gained nearly fifteen pounds! So, he hypnotized me, and now, I don't overeat any more. Maybe he can hypnotize you to feel less depressed, or something."

Becky looked at the card with a dubious expression. Really? Sounded weird to her. But maybe she should just talk to the guy, anyway. If he was a doctor, at the very least, maybe he could give her some advice on how to get more sleep.

She took his card out of her purse now, looking at the clock. Why not? She got her cell phone out, and made the call.

Cas and Gail were at their house on Earth, and he was following her around the place as she was waving her arms, doing a little housecleaning. They were away so often that the dust would accumulate, and occasionally, there would be a cobweb or two. No spider was getting the chance to set up shop at her house, she told her husband sassily, and he assured her that if they spotted one, it would not survive.

There was really no reason for Cas to follow her around from room to room, but he was doing it, anyway. The recent deaths in their family had made him all too acutely aware that one should never take one's loved ones for granted. Chuck, Tommy, Emma, Liz, and Eric had all been murdered, and Emma's killer had not been identified. It was not only the humans in their family who might be in jeopardy at any given moment.

They were talking about that now. As Gail was cleaning the house, she was also thinking about the killings. "I wonder why Alice spoke that spell in French," she commented aloud. "Especially since it was Creole. That could be a clue. Maybe she's in New Orleans, somewhere. But, how can we track her down, if she's cloaked?"

"Didn't you tell me that there were voodoo practitioners there?" Cas asked his wife. "Maybe we could talk to some of them."

Gail was frowning. "Maybe," she echoed. Any mention of voodoo made her think of Vincent, of course. He had been blessedly quiet for a while now, and while that didn't necessarily alleviate her nervousness about him, she would rather not stir up that particular hornet's nest, if they could help it. "I'll tell you what," she continued. "Let's wait and see if the hypnotist Frank is taking Rob to can help him figure out what he saw in that room. If we can find out what the pictures he saw were pictures OF, maybe we'll have more to go on."

"All right, my love," Cas said, nodding. Suddenly, he had that unfocused look, the one that signaled he was receiving a call on Angel Radio. Strange, Gail thought. She wasn't getting anything.

Gabriel was sending the message to Cas on their private frequency, and there was a reason for it. No one had seen Gabriel for a few days, not since Eric's funeral. He'd been keeping a low profile since Liz's murder. That was understandable, of course. Everyone grieved in their own way, and Gabe had always been an independent type of guy. Gail had asked Cas if they shouldn't try to find him, to make sure he was all right. Cas had considered that for a moment, but then he'd shaken his head. Gabriel was the kind of man who might get angry if he thought they were keeping tabs on him. Give their Brother a few more days, and then if they didn't hear from Gabriel, Cas would seek him out.

But now it was Gabriel who was contacting Cas, and the reason he had done so privately was because he had Lanister tied up in an abandoned house, on the outskirts of town.

"It's Gabriel," Cas told his wife now, and she brightened. "Oh, good," Gail said, approaching her husband. "We can go see him, find out how he's doing."

"No," Cas said quickly, and she looked at him curiously. "He said he wants to talk to me alone. Man to man." Well, that was kind of the truth. But the purpose of Gabe's call had been much more sinister than that. It was for that reason that Gabe had wanted to exclude Gail, and Cas agreed wholeheartedly. "Why don't you go with Frank and Rob to the doctor's office?" Cas suggested. "You can lend them our moral support, and find out what Rob saw. I will have a visit with Gabriel, and lend him our moral support, too. Then, when we are done talking, I'll come and find you. Okay?"

"OK, Cas," Gail said affably. She had no idea what was really going on. She gave him a kiss and then winked out, to go to Frank's house.

Cas sighed. He was glad that she hadn't raised an objection. He checked his pocket for his blade, then popped out of the house.

Frank had insisted on driving Rob to Dr. Esmond's office, even though Gail had said she could just pop them over there. He'd told Gail that he wanted to be with Rob for a while, to help him through the grieving process.

"What about your job?" Gail asked her brother, as they waited for Rob to emerge from his room. He'd moved back into the house from his and Eric's apartment for the time being.

"Compassionate leave," Frank answered with a brief grin. "Say what you will about City Hall, but there are lots of ways to take care of your business, if you know what I mean."

Gail shrugged. It occurred to her now that she'd never actually had to think about that kind of thing, in terms of having an actual job. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or a bad one.

Rob came into the kitchen. "Ready to go?" Frank asked his son.

Rob sighed, frowning. He was a little apprehensive about this whole operation, and his dad's sense of humour wasn't exactly helping. This morning, before Aunt Gail had gotten here, Rob's dad was telling him he'd seen a hypnotist on TV who had gotten people to bark like dogs and cluck like chickens, every time a bell rang. Rob knew his dad was only kidding around, but he was nervous about the whole process. He'd looked it up online, and from what he had read, you were in some kind of a trance, or something. Not asleep, but not awake, either. The doctor would send you mentally back to that time and place, and you would see what you saw when you were there before. So, Rob would have to see Eric's mom shooting him, all over again. Great. But he had to "man up", and do it. They needed to find Alice. There was something fishy about that whole thing. They couldn't have her out there somewhere, with all those weapons. Clearly, the woman was crazy.

"Yeah, I guess so, Dad," Rob said in response to Frank's question.

"What about Angela?" Gail asked her brother.

"Bobby took her to the park," Frank replied. "These are her last few days of freedom before she starts school, so I wanted her to try and have some fun, before that. She's been pretty down about Eric's death, too. It's hard for a kid her age to understand, and it's almost impossible for me to explain it to her, 'cause I don't understand it, either," he added with a frown.

A minute or two later, the three of them left the house.

"Cas, I'm losing it," Gabriel said to his Brother. He was pacing back and forth in the backyard of the house where he was holding Lanister captive. Cas hadn't seen the Archangel like this in years and years; not since the time of the Angel Wars. Gabe had Lanister's blade in his hand, and it was stained red with Liz's killer's blood. Gabriel had pretty much done exactly what Cas would have done: he had called in some old favours to track the former Upper Echelon board member down, seized him, and brought him here. Lanister was being defiant, unrepentant about Liz's murder. Gabe had gone to work on the former Angel with the blade in a white-hot rage, but then, he had made himself stop. Was what he was doing right now going to bring Liz back? No, of course not. Was that really who Gabriel was? Was that who Liz would want him to be?

So Gabe had called Cas and asked him to come, but as the Archangel looked at his Brother, he realized this might have been a mistake. Asking Castiel if he should stand down from torturing and killing the one who had killed Liz might be a little like asking a wolf if he wanted to eat a salad.

But, Cas surprised him. His Brother was all for torturing Lanister, but: "We should try to keep him alive for as long as possible, so that he will give us Xavier and Mark," Cas said. "The two of them are cowards, but I would still like to have them all. Then we can send them back to Hell, where they belong."

Gabriel nodded. Cas was right. All three of those men had been in Hell for a reason. Now was not the time to go soft. He said a quick mental prayer, asking Liz to look the other way for a minute.

He and Cas entered the house.

Dr. Esmond had hypnotized Becky, and she was re-living the night that she and Sam had conceived Brian. She had helped an extremely drunk Sam into bed, and then she had come back out to the living room area of the hotel suite fuming, complaining to Vincent that her would-be lover had passed out. Then Vincent had fixed her a drink, telling her to relax. Let Sam sleep it off for a bit, and then she could take care of business.

Becky drank the drink that Vincent had prepared for her, and the next thing she remembered, she and Sam had been making love. But now that she looked more closely, there were a couple of things that didn't add up. They were having sex on the couch, not in the bed. Why would they be on the couch? Had Sam come out there, looking for her? But he had been passed out cold. She looked at Sam's face. He had that black mark on his face, just like he did in her nightmares.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God! Becky thought. She fought her way to the surface. No. It couldn't be. It was Vincent! Vincent was Brian's father!

Cas had moved in front of Gabriel, taking his own blade out of his pocket. Lanister was eyeing both of them warily.

"So, the mighty Archangel calls on his attack dog to finish the job," Lanister said, sneering. "What's the matter, Gabriel? Are you not man enough to deal with me, yourself?"

Gabe tried not to rise to the bait. "I called in a specialist," he said calmly. "You know how skilled Castiel is in these matters. He knows how to torture a guy for days, without actually killing him."

Lanister was suspicious. "Why would you not just kill me?" he asked the men.

Castiel shrugged off his jacket, tossing it on a chair. "Because we want Xavier and Mark," he said quietly. "And you are going to give them to us. The question is, how long will it take, for us to receive the answers we need? How much pain and suffering are you prepared to endure?" He approached Lanister slowly, rolling up his shirt sleeves. "I would say that you will break in about ten minutes, at the most. You are a coward, who is only brave when he is dealing with a woman. I have not forgotten how you threatened to send Jason after my wife, following the tribunal. And now, you have killed an innocent Angel, a female you had no quarrel with. You are a disgrace. I will have you begging for mercy, and when you do, I will ask you what sort of mercy you gave Liz. And then, when I send all three of you back to Hell, screaming in agony, you will tell every Demon there that they can expect the same fate, if they harm any members of my family." He held his blade up, looking at Lanister speculatively. "Now: where to begin?"

Becky came rushing out of Dr. Esmond's office, white as a sheet. He was calling out to her to stop, but she was too panicked. Vincent was Brian's father! Vincent. Not Sam.

Becky had left Brian with the receptionist while she'd gone in, and the woman looked up, startled. She misunderstood Becky's haste. "Don't worry, your son is fine," Jill said, smiling. "He's a real cutie-pie. He's been good as gold."

Gail stood from her chair. "Becky? What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, surprised. In one of those incredible coincidences that life sometimes features, Rob's appointment had been scheduled directly after Becky's, and the three of them had been sitting there, waiting.

Becky's eyes widened even further. Crap! Of all the people to run into here, Gail was one of the worst. Luckily, Becky hadn't said anything out loud, but still...She needed to take Brian home and think about what she had just found out. She grabbed the handles of the stroller and wheeled Brian out of the reception area, past a startled Gail, Frank, and Rob.

Gail was open-mouthed. "What the hell was THAT all about?" she said to the others.

Frank shrugged. "Dunno." He looked at the receptionist. "Can my son go in, now?"

"I suppose so," the woman said, shrugging.

Gail was still staring after Becky. "I'm going after her," she told Frank. "I've got to find out. Rob'll be in there for an hour, right? I'll be back in a few minutes." She put her hand on Rob's arm. "Try your best, OK?" she said to her half-brother. "I know it won't be pleasant, but we really need to see if we can come up with anything that'll help us figure out where Alice is, and why she did that."

Rob was frowning. Not that any of that would bring Eric back, or anything. But he guessed she was right, if only for the reason that they should lock up Eric's mom for life, for what she'd done.

Rob was ushered into the doctor's office, Gail rushed out the door to try to catch up with Becky, and Frank sat down to wait. Look at all these magazines on being crazy, he thought. He started leafing through them. Pages and pages of medical gobbledy-gook, and tons of ads for drugs. Lots and lots of drugs. He squinted at the lists of side effects for some of them. Wow. The side effects were worse than the disease. In some cases, they were actually the same as the thing that you were trying to cure. Incredibly, one of the meds for mental illness carried a possible side effect of suicidal or homicidal thoughts. Frank had to shake his head vigorously at that one. There must be a million really inappropriate jokes about that fact alone. But, hey, he had an hour to kill. No pun intended. Maybe he would wait until Gail got back, and tell her some of them, really quietly. Then she would laugh out loud, making the receptionist look, and Frank would be innocently trying to read his magazine. Then he would do it again, and then again. It had been way too long since he'd embarrassed his sister in public. Maybe, when they were ready to leave, the woman would suggest that Gail should make an appointment to see the shrink, too. Wouldn't that be hilarious?

While Frank was amusing himself, Gail was standing with Becky next to the young woman's car, in the parking lot of the medical building.

Damn it! Becky thought. If she hadn't had to do all that stuff for Brian, she would have been out of here by now. But she'd had to open the car, put him in the seat, buckle him up, open the trunk, collapse the stroller and put it in there, and then put the diaper bag in the back. But once she'd done all that, Becky had smelled the unmistakable scent, and she'd groaned loudly. "I just changed you, before I went in for my appointment!" she complained. Brian had no comment to make.

So Becky'd had to change the baby, and that act had delayed her leaving the strip mall where the hypnotist's office was. There was no way she was driving home with that poopy smell all over the car. But now, here was Gail. Great. Of all the times for Becky to run into HER.

"Hi, Becky," Gail said to the girl. "How are you? Is everything OK? You rushed out of there pretty fast."

"Yeah, it's fine. Everything is fine," Becky said unconvincingly.

Gail eyed the girl. She was acting weird. They hadn't seen each other in ages. Since the four of them had never gone to Mount Kilimanjaro, Gail and Sam had never visited Becky. Still, Gail knew that Brian was the Beast of the Apocalypse, because Cas and Gabriel had told her so, a while back. It was strange to think about that when she looked at him, though. Brian looked just like any other baby to Gail.

But, knowing what she knew, Gail was on alert, now. Why was Becky seeing a hypnotist? Why did she look so freaked out?

"You have something on your forehead," Gail said, reaching out to the young woman. Becky didn't suspect a thing. Gail looked into Becky's mind and saw what the young girl had just learned: Vincent was Brian's father! Sam and Becky hadn't had sex at all. Sam had passed out on the bed in the suite, and Vincent had "roofied" Becky, sexually assaulted her, and impregnated her with the Beast.

Gail's head was spinning. Holy mother-loving...Crap! Several things occurred to her, all at once. The first thing was that this certainly explained a lot. It hadn't made any sense to Gail that a great guy like Sam would have fathered the actual Beast of the Apocalypse. Vincent? Sure. Absolutely. Just when Gail thought her father couldn't sink any lower, he managed to do it. But now, she was wondering WHY. Had he done it just to mess with them? Had he known that this one was going to be the Beast? Was he planning to sic the kid on them, when his son got a little older? What kind of powers did Brian have, anyway?

Gail was gaping at Becky now. She would have to say something, in a minute. She'd modified Becky's memory so that the girl wouldn't remember that Gail had just touched her forehead, so it was time to act innocent. But, boy, was it difficult. Gail needed to talk to Cas and Gabriel, and she needed to talk to them now.

"It was good to see you, Becky," Gail made herself say, and then she turned and went back into the building. The young mother stared after Gail for a moment. Then, she got in her car and drove away.

Rob was back at Alice's house now in his mind, running up the stairs two at a time. He burst into the room. Eric's mom had a gun, and she was shooting his brother! "Eric!" he yelled, and Dr. Esmond placed his hand on the young man's shoulder. "It's all right, Rob. You're only having a vision," he said soothingly. "There's no danger, here. Tell me what you see."

"Eric," Rob said in a more subdued tone, but now, he was crying. "Eric's shot. He's gonna die. He's going to push me out of the room, and then he's gonna die..."

"What's on the walls, Rob?" the doctor inquired. "What do you see on the walls of the room?"

"Pictures. Pictures of people," Rob replied.

"What kinds of people? What do they look like? Is there anything distinctive about them?" Dr. Esmond persisted.

"Just...people," Rob said tonelessly. "Guys, girls, a few kids...Wait! Wait a second! I know some of them! There's Toby, and Cody. And Ursula. Eric and I used to joke about her. She was way out of our league. Oh, and there's Ricky, with an 'X' on his face. He's dead." Now, Rob was on the verge of tears again. "Just like Eric. Why? Why did they have to kill them?"

Dr. Esmond was taken aback. He hadn't expected to hear anything like this. But the patient was becoming very agitated, now. It was time to bring him out.

Frank's head had snapped up when he'd heard Rob yell, but Gail put her hand on her brother's arm in case he was thinking of rushing in there. He sat back again, but he was looking at the door that led to the doctor's office with a look of suspicion on his face.

Gail had come back up to the waiting room after her encounter with Becky, her mind whirling a mile a minute. Now, her emotions were weighing in. Wow. Vincent had raped Becky. What WAS it with these guys? Vincent, Lucifer...what made them think that they were entitled to DO crap like that? Now, Gail was feeling kind of bad about all of the nasty things she'd said about Becky, when they'd found out the girl was pregnant.

Then again, on the other hand...Like Patricia after what had been done to her, Becky was hardly lily-white in this situation. She had Sam believing the baby was his. She had sat there at Gail and Cas's Christmas feast, and ruined their digestion. She had had Sam and Cas running around at her beck and call, buying her anything and everything she wanted. She had broken up Sam and Quinn's relationship, and she had driven a wedge between Sam and Dean. Becky had a lot to answer for.

But, on the other hand, if Vincent had drugged Becky, or put some kind of voodoo spell on her or whatever the hell he'd done, wasn't it possible that she actually thought the baby WAS Sam's? But then, if that was the case, why had Becky refused to take the paternity tests that Dean and Gail had wanted her to take?

There was an old song that Frank used to listen to, back when he still played record albums on his mom's record player, Gail thought now. The song was called "Questions 67 and 68". What a weird name for a song. She never did figure out what it was about, but the title was certainly apt in this situation. She had at least that many questions bouncing around in her head right now.

Dr. Esmond opened his office door, looking at Frank. "May I see you for a minute?"

Gail and the hypnotist weren't the only ones whose heads were full of questions at the moment.

Castiel and Gabriel had tortured and menaced Lanister for a couple of hours now, and he'd refused to give them Xavier and Mark. He had cried out in pain, screaming and protesting that he didn't know where they were. But Castiel didn't believe him.

"You are a liar, and a coward," he said to Lanister, working his jaw. "I do not know why you are shielding them. They would not do it for you, if the situation were reversed."

Lanister was slumped against his bonds, broken and bleeding. He had been defiant at first, but now, he just wanted this to be over. He honestly didn't know where the other men were. They had gone their separate ways after Lanister had killed Liz. Now, he suspected he might know why. By killing Castiel's wife's friend and Gabriel's fiancee, Lanister had painted a huge target on himself. Xavier and Mark had probably wanted to stay as far away from him as possible, due to that fact alone.

Gabriel was standing by, with his arms folded in front of him. At first, the cold and cruel nature of the torture that Castiel had subjected Lanister to had unsettled Gabriel a little. But then, he had thought about his wonderful, sweet Liz. She had been the purest woman - no, the purest PERSON - he had ever met, in every positive sense of the word. She didn't deserve what this bastard had done to her. So Gabriel had closed his ears to Lanister's pleas and his screams for mercy, and watched as Castiel did his thing.

But now, Gabriel was starting to think that they were wasting their time. Nobody could withstand that much pain and not give up the information, unless they had no information to give. He was considering their options when Lanister suddenly blurted out, "Alexander might know something."

Castiel's blade hand paused. "Alexander?" he echoed, startled. "Is he also here on Earth?"

"No; he is the Master of the Lake of Fire," Lanister told him. "I was there."

Cas froze. He looked at Gabriel. This was unbelievable. A former member of the Upper Echelon, Heaven's most senior and longest-serving Angels, was now the arbiter of the Lake of Fire? Ammit's successor? What was Crowley playing at?

He and Gabriel exchanged another glance, and they popped outside simultaneously.

"Great. Just great. We don't even know where the Lake of Fire is, any more," Gabe grumbled. "Crowley moved it after you guys went there, didn't he?"

Cas was nodding. "Yes," he confirmed. They were both silent for a moment, thinking about how to proceed. Then, Cas nodded again. "We will give him exactly one opportunity to take us there. If he refuses, we will kill him, and then we will see Crowley. I would prefer not to do that, but I don't want to waste any more time here. He has stonewalled us for long enough. Agreed?"

Gabe let out a frustrated breath. "Yeah. Let's just finish it, already. I'm getting sick of looking at the guy."

"Leave it to me," Cas said grimly. Gabe put his hand on Cas's shoulder. "Thanks, Bro. Thanks for having my back. And Liz's," his Archangel friend and Brother added, and Cas frowned briefly. He didn't want to feel sentiment right now, or he wouldn't be in the right frame of mind to deal with the current situation.

He might as well not have worried, though. As soon as Cas and Gabriel popped back to where Lanister was, Liz's killer said, "I'll take you to the Lake of Fire."

Lanister was taking a calculated risk. If he refused to cooperate, they would just kill him, anyway. But if he made it to the Lake of Fire alive, perhaps the tables could be turned.

"Fine," Cas said in a clipped tone. He raised his blade and Lanister cringed, but his former boardmate merely used the knife to cut through Lanister's bonds.

"I'll need you to heal me, so that I will be able to make the trip," Lanister said, and Cas froze. The sheer audacity of the man was astounding. "Certainly," Cas said in a deceptively calm tone. He stepped back. "Brother Gabriel, would you care to do the honours?"

Gabriel looked at Lanister for a moment, and then he moved forward as Lanister rose unsteadily from the chair. "Of course," Gabe said expansively. "I would be only too happy to heal the sniveling coward who killed my fiancee."

He waved his hands over Lanister, who flinched again. But Gabriel did heal the guy, because he trusted Cas, and because he agreed that Xavier and Mark were pieces of garbage, who had to be taken off the landscape. Gabriel could bide his time. Lanister wasn't long for this world, or any other, probably.

Still, after Gabe healed the man, he grabbed him by the shirt front and punched him in the face, several times in quick succession, as hard as he could. "Oops," Gabriel said sarcastically. "Oh, well. All you need are legs, to take us where we need to go." He grabbed Lanister roughly. "Let's go, Lame-ister." The Archangel smirked at Cas. Not one of his better insults, but he didn't really care. This bastard wasn't worth one of his primo lines.

But Cas was holding a hand to his head now. "Hold on," he said, distracted by the call from Gail. "I need to take this. I'll be right back." He popped out of the room.

Gabriel refrained from rolling his eyes. What could possibly be more important than what they were in the middle of, right now? Lanister glanced furtively at Gabriel, but now, Gabe did roll his eyes. "Don't even think about it," he warned the former Angel. "I'm an Archangel, and you're...what are you now, exactly? Oh, yeah. You're the spineless scumbag who killed my fiancee. It's Cas who wants those two other guys so much. Personally, I don't really care. I was in the lobby buying popcorn when Xavier and Mark made their debuts in this little movie franchise we've got going on, here. They mean nothing to me. But you, on the other hand..." He walked closer to Lanister and peered at the man's face, narrowing his eyes. "You, I would gladly take apart, molecule by molecule. If you don't believe me, just try it. Please."

Lanister stood down, like the coward he was. He wished he'd never come here to Earth. Aaron's death had been years ago, and now, Lanister had stirred up a hornet's nest. But who would have ever thought that Gabriel would have reacted like this? None of the long-serving Angels who knew Gabriel would have ever imagined him to be this upset over the loss of one woman. At the moment, the Archangel was acting more like Castiel than himself. The question was: Why?

Cas had gone outside to take the call from Gail, and to tell her that he would come to her after he and Gabriel took care of the business at hand. He didn't want her to have to be subjected to Lanister, or Alexander, for that matter. He and Gabriel were fully capable of taking care of things at the Lake of Fire. But she had sounded so agitated that he had ended up telling her where he was, and Gail had popped over there.

"Where's Gabriel?" she asked her husband curiously, looking around.

"Inside," he said simply. "Now, what's so urgent?"

"Sam isn't Brian's father," she said without preliminary. "Vincent is."

Cas's mouth dropped open in surprise, but his wife wasn't done, yet. "Oh, and guess what?" she continued. "We found out why Alice shot Eric, and why she tried to kill Rob. She's on a mission to wipe out all of Vincent's kids, presumably to make sure he dies, too. You know, it's a shame that Rob and I are on that list, or we might be natural allies. So, needless to say, I've had a pretty eventful afternoon. So, who do you and Gabriel have in that house, and why haven't you told me about it?"

Castiel's head was reeling now, just like Gail's had been, earlier. Vincent was Brian's father, not Sam? Like Gail, Cas wasn't particularly surprised that an evil entity like Vincent would be the sire of the Beast of the Apocalypse. What a relief this news would be for Sam. That was if they decided to tell him, of course. The fact of the matter was that the child still had to die, regardless of who Its father was. Knowing Sam the way Cas did, after the initial shock of the news wore off, Sam would still argue that they should not kill the child. Could not. But, not only COULD they, as Angels of the Lord, they were required to.

That entire situation would bear further discussion, but they had nearly ten years to sort it out, so the subject could simmer on the back burner for now. Of far greater concern at the moment was Alice, and her vigilante mission. Castiel had to admit that a part of him approved of what Eric's adoptive mother had taken it upon herself to accomplish. If he were to be completely honest with himself, Cas had to admit that the idea had a lot of merit. It wasn't as if the topic hadn't come up before. There was a very logical case for doing exactly what Alice seemed to be doing. It was unfortunate that individuals like Eric had to be part of the collateral damage, of course. But when Ricky and all of those others had died in that compound, Castiel had seen for himself how temporarily weakened Vincent had become. If they had been able to band together and continue the assault on him, Vincent might have even been vulnerable enough to destroy, at that moment. But the opportunity had been lost, and now Vincent had fathered another formidable adversary, in Brian.

The calculating part of Castiel's brain went to work, now. They would be formulating a plan to locate the Chosen One, if the youth did not find them first. Once Brian was dead, Vincent would be significantly weakened again. He'd received a disfiguring black mark on his face after Gail had killed JD. JD's demise had obviously been significant to Vincent. Cas had never told Gail this, because he'd thought it would upset her even further, but after JD's death, he had asked Sam to do a little digging on Gail's half-brother. Sam had found out some very interesting but ultimately inconclusive information: at least sixteen separate states, possibly more, had unsolved murders of women on the books, from around the same time as JD had said that he had been driving around the country, searching for family. Hardly incriminating in and of itself, but Sam had dug a little deeper and managed to unearth composite sketches of the man who had been last seen with two different victims in two different states, and the drawings had borne a striking resemblance to the man they'd allowed to stay in their home, and attempted to welcome as a member of the family. Sam and Cas had made a pact not to disclose any of this to Gail, reasoning that she would rest easier that way.

But this train of thought had led Cas to come to the inevitable conclusion: While they were busy taking care of the other threats to their family members and to the status quo, perhaps they could allow Alice to thin out the herd a little bit more, in a manner of speaking. As long as Rob and especially Gail were in no danger, perhaps Castiel should concentrate on eliminating the types of threats that no human could eliminate.

"We'll talk about everything you just told me, I promise," Cas said to his wife now. "But we have a more pressing situation going on, right now. Lanister is in this house, and he has agreed to take us to the Lake of Fire to speak to Alexander about Xavier and Mark's whereabouts."

Now it was Gail's turn to be astonished. "Lanister is in there?" she repeated. "Is THAT what Gabriel called you about?"

"Yes," her husband confirmed, frowning. "But, Gabriel and I can take care of it. You don't need to be subjected to him."

Gail looked at Cas evenly. "While I appreciate your attempts at chivalry, I have one question for you: how's Gabriel supposed to be able to accompany you to the Lake of Fire without his blade?"

Cas froze. He hadn't even thought of that. But Gail was right. If the place was still bound by the same covenants as it had been before, Gabriel would be unable to enter.

He sighed. But, he and Gail would. After all this time, all these years of being together, Cas knew that his wife was an able warrior, now. But old habits died hard, and he still desired to protect her from these types of situations. Hadn't she been through enough? But it seemed that, once again, he had no choice. It would be foolhardy for Cas to go to the Lake of Fire alone.

"Have you got your blade, my love?" he asked Gail.

Gabriel had, predictably enough, been extremely angry when Cas had taken him aside and reminded the Archangel that, without his own blade, he would be unable to access the Lake of Fire. But in a way, it was a blessing in disguise. As before, Gabriel was going to stand by, preparing to bring in reinforcements if his Brother and Sister didn't emerge safe and sound within the allotted time frame.

"After we take care of these losers, I have to find that kid," Gabriel fumed. "I need my own blade back. Once he takes care of his little errand, I'm taking it back. Enough's enough."

Cas said nothing. He actually understood Gabriel's frustration. He couldn't imagine not having his own blade; being relegated to the sidelines like this must be maddening, especially for someone with Gabriel's formidable powers. "I'll help you, in that regard," he told his Brother, and then, with a glance at Gail, Cas amended that to: "WE will."

Gail was nodding. "Of course we will," she agreed.

They moved back to where Lanister was. The men had bound and shackled him again in preparation for transport, and also to make sure that he wouldn't be given the opportunity to try to attack Gail, once she entered the house. When she had, Lanister had scarcely reacted, but Castiel wasn't about to relax his guard.

"You will now give us the coordinates," Cas said to Lanister in a crisp, businesslike tone. "Gabriel will do a reconnaissance to make sure you're not sending us into a trap, and when he gives us the all clear, we will proceed."

But there was no way that Lanister was going to lead them into a trap, even if he could. Now that Castiel's wife was here, Lanister knew that with every moment Lanister spent in close proximity with her, Castiel would grow angrier and angrier, remembering old grudges, and fostering new ones. Never mind that Gail had fired the first salvo, when she had killed Lanister's son. Castiel had a blind spot a mile wide when it came to his diminutive, doe-eyed wife. It was such a shame, really. Lanister had had nothing against Castiel as an individual. In fact, he had often thought that the Senior Seraph had almost limitless potential before the humans had wormed their way into his heart, and under his skin, like parasites will do. But Castiel had turned his back on Heaven in favour of those parasites, hadn't he?

Lanister gave them the coordinates.

Alexander bolted from his chair the instant that Lanister, Castiel and Gail appeared by the Lake. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

"Really, Alexander?" Cas said dryly. "You honestly have no idea?"

Alexander was distraught. This was exactly why he hadn't wanted his former colleagues to go to Earth. Now look at what they had done. Castiel and that woman were here, looking to make trouble for him. Alexander was quite content here. He actually enjoyed the work, and he was eminently qualified to do it. As a senior Upper Echelon Angel, who was more qualified than he, to judge the souls of the condemned? His talents had been wasted in Hell, in the snake pits. But he'd supposed Crowley had had to separate the wheat from the chaff, and now that the King had recognized who among the Upper Echelon was worth retaining, the decision was out of Alexander's hands. That was what he had told himself, anyway.

But here were these three now, upsetting the status quo. "What do you want?" he said to Castiel.

"Xavier and Mark," Cas said bluntly. "Where are they?"

"I have no idea, Castiel," Alexander replied. He looked at Lanister, frowning. "Did you tell him that I knew where they were? Let me guess: You brought Castiel here under the pretext that I had information to divulge, in an attempt to save your own skin. Isn't that correct?"

Lanister said nothing, but that fact alone was enough for confirmation, as far as Alexander was concerned. He looked at Castiel. "I told them that it was a bad idea to go to Earth, Castiel. They asked me to accompany them, but I refused. I stayed here, instead."

Cas's eyes narrowed. Interesting. Even among cowards, Alexander was a coward. He wished that Gabriel was here to appreciate the irony.

"Well, good for you," Gail said sarcastically. "I'm sure Crowley appreciates your loyalty. But you just admitted that you didn't stop them from escaping, either. Lanister killed my best friend. Gabriel's fiancee. If not for you, she would still be alive. Isn't that right?"

"I had no knowledge of that, Castiel," Alexander replied soberly. "I did not sanction that act."

Gail laughed shortly. "Wow. I can't believe that after all these years, you still won't look at me, or address me by my name. It doesn't matter where guys like you and Lanister and Xavier are, you still think you're superior, don't you? You and that ancient, dried-up, fossilized Upper Echelon board. Talk about 'White Male Privilege'. I guess it would scandalize you to know that we have Asian people and black people on the board now, and half of them are women. In fact, I've chaired many of those meetings, myself! What do you have to say about that?"

She stood there, breathing heavily after her angry tirade. Alexander opened his mouth to speak. Finally, he was going to say something directly to her, Gail thought with anticipation. She didn't even care what it was. Just an acknowledgement that she was an actual person in her own right would be nice.

"There was no point to your coming here, Castiel," Alexander said, turning his head away from Gail. Or not, Gail thought, throwing her arms up in frustration. Had this been other circumstances, Cas might have smiled. She was so cute. But Gail was absolutely right, too. She had helped Cas to grow in leaps and bounds, as far as enlightenment went. But with some individuals, it was a losing battle.

Alexander was oblivious. "I do not know where Xavier and Mark are," he went on. "So, unless you want to fight thousands upon thousands of condemned souls with nothing left to lose, I would suggest that you make your retreat."

Cas let out a frustrated breath. He hated to admit it, but Alexander was right. There was no way that he and Gail could engage in that type of combat here. They would be ridiculously outnumbered. Back when Ammit had been in charge of the Lake, she had ingested so many of the souls that were there at the time that Cas had felt confident enough to make the attempt to defeat her, one-on-one. But in this situation, it would be suicide.

Still, he attempted a bluff, just to see what Alexander would say. "Either that, or I could just call Gabriel, and have him ride into here with an army of Angels," Cas said calmly.

Alexander was eyeing his former Brother warily. If Castiel were able to ride an army into here, in the inner core of the Earth where the Lake of Fire was located, why would he not already have done so? But, then again, did Alexander really want to take that chance? What if Castiel and his wife had come here as an advance team, to reconnoiter the new location and to try to see if they could discern the whereabouts of Xavier and Mark, ahead of the raid? Castiel had a storied reputation for deception and violence, and Alexander knew that that reputation was well-earned. Did he really want to run the risk of this turning into a bloodbath? Once souls were cast into the Lake, they would be gone forever. Himself, included.

"Let us not be hasty, here," Alexander said cautiously. "I honestly do not know where Xavier and Mark are, but I don't wish to have a bloody and protracted battle, either. What will it take for us to leave you in peace?"

"A show of good faith," Cas replied coolly.

Lanister was incredulous. "He doesn't have an army!" he said to Alexander, gesturing angrily. "He's bluffing!"

"Do you really want to put yourself in jeopardy by testing me?" Castiel said to Alexander. "Gabriel and I have issued instructions to the garrisons to leave you alone. Once we lay waste to this place and Crowley finds out that it happened on your watch, you will wish that we had cast you into the Lake."

Alexander understood what Castiel was alluding to, and he was absolutely right. There was only one thing the Keeper of the Lake could think of to do to appease Castiel at this point, and he intended to do it, to save himself. He seized Lanister by the arm, and flung him into the Lake of Fire.

Cas and Gail watched as Lanister screamed in agony. He flailed his arms wildly, trying to stay above the flames. Why did they all do that? Alexander thought idly. Did they really think that it was going to make a difference?

Gail looked on impassively as Lanister screamed a few more times. Then he sank into the Lake, and then he was gone. Good. She wasn't going to waste one ounce of sympathy on the man who had killed Liz for absolutely no reason. Gail only wished that Gabriel had been here to see it. She would have to make sure to describe it to him in loving detail, later on.

Cas took Gail's hand. That would have to do, for now. "Very well, Alexander," he said, appraising the Keeper of the Lake with his best poker stare. "We will stand down, for now. But if I find out that you have lied to me, we will be back."

Gabriel had been pacing nervously back and forth aboveground, sweating out the time period that he and Cas had agreed upon. But the couple appeared before the allotted time was up.

Gabe looked at Cas with a raised eyebrow, but his Brother shook his head. "Alexander claims he doesn't know where they are," Cas said, "and I think he's telling the truth."

Gabriel frowned, but he was nodding. If Cas believed the guy, that was good enough for him. "And Lanister?" the Archangel inquired.

"Barbecued," Gail said bluntly. She and Gabriel looked at each other for a moment, but they couldn't quite bring themselves to smile. Instead, they exchanged nods of acknowledgement. Liz was still gone, but at least her killer had gotten what he deserved.

"I'll be going, now," Gabe said to the two of them. "You guys look like you have some things to talk about."

"We do," Cas agreed, giving Gail's hand a gentle squeeze. "Go ahead, Gabriel. We'll talk to you later."

"Thanks," Gabriel said, and then he vanished.

Gabriel reappeared a moment later in the alcove room, where the ashes of the Angels who had received state funerals were kept. He went to the niche where the gold urn containing Liz's ashes was kept. Bobby had installed a plaque beneath it that read simply: "The Best Is Yet To Come".

Gabe did smile, now. Anyone who didn't know them might have found it strange, but clearly, Bobby had been paying attention. When they had been talking about their upcoming wedding, Liz had been making the rounds, polling their friends and family for ideas on what song she and Gabe should dance to, for their first dance. She had received some smartass answers, of course. Sam had suggested, tongue firmly in cheek, that it should be "Lucky Man", while Frank had suggested an obscure little number called "The Where-Has-My-Hubby-Gone Blues". Karen had said that if she and Ethan had it to do over again, she would have chosen "Truly, Madly, Deeply", and then a few more serious love ballads had been bandied about, and then a few more jokes. Finally, Bobby had cleared his throat and said, "You're all wrong. It should be 'The Best Is Yet To Come'." Everybody had been silent for a moment, and then Liz had smiled. "I like that," she'd said, and the matter had been settled.

Gabriel kissed his fingertips and touched the plaque lightly. "I hope that's the case," he said softly. "I'll miss you, and I'll hold you in my heart every day of my existence. And, who knows? Maybe, if Father is kind, we'll see each other again. I love you, Liz."

Then he stood there for another minute, but there was really no point in hanging around. Liz wasn't here. There was no one here; just a bunch of cold metal urns, containing ashes and bone matter. He glanced at the niches containing Efram's and Riley's remains, and at Emma's, and other Angels', who Gabriel had known over the centuries. Boy, did he feel ancient. The young ones had no idea of the stories that were behind the urns in this room. Each and every death, a travesty. Like Jody, and Tommy, and Eric. He gave himself a moment then, to take it all in. The pain and sorrow. The grief, and the loss. What was it all for? What was the Grand Plan? He wasn't sure which notion was scarier: the idea that there was a much larger plan in place, or the thought that there wasn't.

Gabriel spared one last glance at Liz's urn, and then he vanished from the room.

Cas took Gail to their house on Earth, so that they could talk in more detail about the revelations she had received today. But he could see that she was sad now, and he understood why. Even though Lanister had met with a fate that was most deserving, Liz was still gone, wasn't she? Vengeance had its own merits, but the satisfaction it brought was hollow and fleeting.

In an effort to cheer his wife, Cas looked at her and said, "'Ancient'? 'Dried-up'? 'Fossilized'? Do you think it's time for me to get some plastic surgery done?"

Gail looked at him blankly for a moment, and then she started to smile. Cas was quoting the adjectives she'd used to Alexander to describe the former Upper Echelon board members, whose numbers had of course included her husband, back then.

"I didn't mean YOU, Cas," she said, still smiling. Blessing him for what he was doing.

"No?" he said airily. He leaned towards the mirror, over the dresser. "Chronologically speaking, I'm the oldest one." He peered at his reflection. "Do you see a few grey hairs, here?"

Gail laughed. He was being too cute. She put her arms around his waist. "I take it back," she said. "You don't look a day older than...what? Seven thousand years? Eight? More?"

Cas turned away from the mirror, looking down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Is that your idea of an apology?" he asked her.

"No. This is," Gail replied. She stretched up to kiss him on the mouth.

"Hmph," Cas said, still playing. "I think that apology leaves a little something to be desired."

Gail regarded him for a moment. "All right, then," she said reasonably. "Maybe you're right. How's this?" She moved closer to him, taking his hands in hers. Then she put them on her waist underneath her top, and she kissed him again, touching his lips with her tongue.

Cas's mouth twitched. "That will do, for a first draft," he said. "Now, let's see if we can work on it some more."


	8. Stranger In A Strange Land

Chapter 7 - Stranger In A Strange Land

The end of the summer brought a happy occasion, for a welcome change. After months of making the rounds to all of the mainstream book publishers in the Vancouver region known as the Lower Mainland, Barry had finally persuaded Lund and Sons, a smaller house in Burnaby, to take a chance on Tommy's manuscript. They couldn't pay very much in the way of an advance, Yvonne had told him. Tommy was an untested author, and the subject matter was - quite frankly - not exactly mainstream, she'd said, choosing her words carefully.

Barry had smiled thinly. He knew what she was getting at. All the other publishers had said similar things, but in this day and age of political correctness, they'd had to tiptoe around the subject.

"OK, first of all, I don't care how much the advance is," Barry had told them all, "and secondly, it's all right to say what you're really thinking. The book is called 'One Man In My Heart', and it's written by a man. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that it's a gay man's autobiography. What you're trying so hard not to say is that a lot of people would be uncomfortable with the subject matter. Even now, after all this time. And I understand that. Believe me, I do. But one of the goals I set for shopping this book around was the idea that it might be able to open some minds. Start a dialogue. Tommy's book is a lot more than the life story of a gay man. It's about being different. A fish out of water. A stranger in a strange land. Who among us hasn't felt that way at some point in our lives?"

He and Carolyn had worked out his sales pitch together, and Barry genuinely believed in the message he was trying to impart. But even though he was making a lot of good points, many of the larger publishing houses were still reluctant to take a chance on a book like that from an unknown author. If Tommy had been a celebrity, or a person of note, it might be different, they'd told Barry.

Tommy's murder had been relegated to yesterday's headlines, as his killer had been a youth who had quietly accepted his sentence and gone to prison. Almost all of the people he'd spoken to seemed to be unaware of what had happened to Barry's husband. Yvonne had been the lone exception, and she had also made a positive impression on Barry by extending her condolences to him.

Yvonne had told him that she was willing to pitch Tommy's book to the boss, and that she had a certain amount of pull at the company, so she didn't forsee a problem. But because the book would be issued in limited print, and because the author was unknown, she thought that Barry needed to get out there and actively flog it. How could he do that? he'd asked, and the editor had told him to trust her.

So the book had been published, and Yvonne had booked Barry to appear on an afternoon TV talk show. He had called Cas on his cell phone, excited.

"I'm going to be on TV, Cas!" Barry had exclaimed. "Can you imagine?"

"Yes, I can," Cas said, his lips twitching. He looked at Gail, and she smiled. Cas had put the call on Speaker, and the Angel couple could both hear the enthusiasm in Barry's voice. But in his excitement, their friend had obviously forgotten what Cas had been doing for a job when they'd gotten to know each other in Vancouver.

Barry smiled now, too. "Oh. Right," he acknowledged. "Anyway, I'VE never been on TV before. I'm nervous about it, but I'm also really looking forward to talking about Tommy, and his book. Sales have been slow, but the publisher thinks this'll really help."

"Of course it will," Gail assured him. "Once people hear about what a wonderful story it is, I'm sure sales will take off." She grinned. "Cas and I bought about a hundred copies. We've been giving them out like candy."

"Thanks for your support, you guys," Barry said. "I really appreciate it, and so do Carolyn and Mike."

"It sounds like they're getting more serious," Gail remarked teasingly. "You can always tell, because both of their names are said in one breath. 'Carolyn and Mike'. 'Cas and Gail'..."

"Sam and Dean," Cas chimed in, and Gail and Barry burst out laughing.

"Thanks for the laugh," Barry said, wiping his eyes. "I miss you guys. All of you. We'll have to get together, soon."

"I'm just about to be brilliant, here," Gail said, putting her hand on Cas's arm. "Why don't we throw a watch party, at your house? Then, when you're done, we can have an end-of-summer barbecue. We'll take care of the food and the transportation, and we'll bring the guys, so there'll be beer, of course." She grinned. "But, don't worry; I'll get Gabriel to float a few cases of wine over there, too. Maybe some champagne, to celebrate your debut as a TV star."

So that was what had ended up happening. The morning of the day of the show, which was going to be aired live, Sam and Gail were in the kitchen, making breakfast. Barry had attempted to help, but they had shooed him out, telling him that TV stars didn't cook for themselves. Barry was pacing nervously around the house, and Cas asked him what he was planning to wear on the show. That inquiry prompted a protracted discussion, and the two men ended up heading upstairs to the master bedroom to select an outfit.

Angela and Peter were on the back deck, reading aloud from a book. Gail couldn't help but grin when she'd poked her head outside to let the kids know that breakfast was ready. Angela was helping Peter to sound out one of the bigger words, and little Ilene was sitting next to Angela, watching her brother and "cousin" reading, with quiet admiration. How cute was that?

"I can't wait for her to start school," Frank said from behind his sister. "She's gonna be the smartest kid that place has ever seen."

"Wow. Brag much?" Gail quipped. She poked him. "Hey. Help me get the plates and forks."

They went back into the kitchen, and as Frank moved over to the cabinets, Gail went to exit the room. "Where are you going?" her brother called after her.

"I'm going to get Barry," she responded. "We have to make sure he eats. He doesn't want us all to hear his stomach grumbling on TV."

"Lucky it's Barry, and not Frank; otherwise, the microphone would probably be picking up other noises, if you know what I mean," Dean said, elbowing Gail's brother on his way into the kitchen. "How's breakfast coming? Me and Mike are starving," he said to his brother.

"You can help Sam put everything out," Gail said to Dean, poking him. Then she looked at Frank. "One of you has to make some more coffee, too."

She made to leave the room again, and this time it was Dean who said, "Hey! Where are YOU going?"

Gail rolled her eyes. "I'm going to get Barry! Hurry up, you guys. At this rate, it's going to be time for him to go to the TV station, before breakfast is even finished!" She stalked out of the room.

"That's a bunch of b.s.," Frank grumbled, getting the plates out of the cabinet. "All she has to do is pop over to the bedroom to get him. Or use that Angel thingie to call Cas. She's just trying to get out of doing the work." He thrust the plates at Dean.

"So what else is new?" Dean said dryly, putting the plates on the table.

"What's the holdup, here?" Gabriel said, breezing into the room.

"Good. Another person," Frank said. "Come here and get the utensils. Do you know how to make coffee?"

Gabe looked at the men. "Really? REALLY?" He rolled up his sleeves. "Stand back, you guys." He waved his arms, and serving dishes started to fly out of the cupboards. Then, the dishes floated over to the stove, and the food jumped out of the pots and pans into them. Then, as the food-laden platters and bowls floated into the dining room of their own accord, the oven doors opened, and the process was repeated. A couple of coffee urns suddenly appeared on the countertop. "Regular, and Belgian chocolate," Gabriel said, grinning. "Now, duck, 'cause here comes the OJ."

"Cool!" Peter exclaimed, entering the kitchen from the deck out back. He'd seen his Uncle Gabriel in action before, of course. It was just like living in one of those boy wizard books. It was too bad he couldn't tell his friends about it. But his mom had had that talk with him already, and a couple of months ago, she and Barry had clued Ilene in, too. Now that Peter's little sister was older, she had been brought into the loop. With all the Angels they had in their family, the kids learned pretty young that there were going to be things going on like this, from time to time. But then they were also told that what they saw was to stay within the family. What the kids had been told inevitably led to other questions, which the parents had fielded as best they could. Rob had quipped once that it was sort of like "The Talk" about the facts of life, only a lot less gross, and Frank had nearly snorted beer out of his nose at that one.

The men were shaking their heads at Gabriel now, smirking, but they had to admit that his impatience made their jobs a lot easier. Well, if you didn't mind getting bashed upside the head by a serving dish, that was.

Gail poked her head into the kitchen. "Good job, you guys," she said approvingly. "Let's get this show on the road." She stopped short, sniffing the air. "Is that Belgian chocolate coffee?"

"Yeah. I ground the beans, myself," Dean said, with a straight face.

Gail looked from man to man to man, her eyes narrowing. They kept their expressions impassive, and after a moment, she gave up and left the room.

The men all smiled at each other, but then, a voice piped up: "No, you didn't!" Peter protested.

"Yeah, but SHE doesn't need to know that," Dean said to the young boy, making a shushing motion.

"That's fibbing, Uncle Dean!" Angela called out. She and Ilene had just come out from the back deck, and they were holding hands. It was the cutest damn thing Dean had ever seen. He walked over to the little girls and picked them up, one in each arm. "I'm not fibbing, I'm just...joking," he said, and Frank laughed.

"What your Uncle Dean IS, is a chicken," Gail's brother said, smirking.

"Buck, buck," Dean said, affably enough, and the kids laughed. He bounced the girls up and down, looking at Frank. "If I'm a chicken, so's your dad," Dean said to Angela. "And so's your Uncle Sam, and so is your Uncle Gabriel."

Cas entered the kitchen. "Gail wanted me to come and tell all of you that the breakfast is getting cold."

"Oh, look. Here's the Head Chicken, now," Dean said to the kids, and the men all laughed. Then they all trooped into the dining room, a puzzled-looking Cas trailing behind.

Joe hadn't slept right for days. Every time he laid down and closed his eyes, all he could see was the blade he had been practicing with, glinting in the moonlight. Joe was holding it aloft, stabbing the young boy over and over again, and the kid was screaming, cursing Josiah in the ancient language. Joe had never seen or heard Enochian before, yet in his half-dream state, he understood every word. The Beast was telling Josiah that he was not the Chosen One; that he was an impostor, who only thought he was an instrument of God. But, he was not. He was a nobody. A nothing. He was Joe, not Josiah. He was the bastard son of a trailer-park whore who had better stay as far away from Lebanon, Kansas as possible, if he knew what was good for him.

Joe was scared. Why him? He had always felt different from the other kids in school, from the people in the trailer park, even from his own mother. The day he'd found that awesome-looking dagger on the shores of the Mississippi had been a turning point in his young life, though. The instant he'd picked up the blade and it had glowed in his hand for the first time, Josiah had been shown what his life's purpose was: to kill the Beast of the Apocalypse. The Beast was going to be born to one of the most evil entities the world had ever known, and It was going to take the form of a young boy. The Lord God had spared Josiah's young life while he had still been in his mother's womb so that he could grow to be a young man, and once he had become proficient with the blade that God had placed in his hand, Josiah would be given a sign to embark on his mission.

The actual geographical location of the Beast in his vision was Joe's sign. He had never received that, before. Lebanon, Kansas? What a weird name. It sounded like a place in the Middle East, or something. But, Joe would just have to find out. He slipped out of bed and threw some items in a duffel bag. He wrapped the blade in a couple of shirts, and hid it in the bottom. He laid the Bible his mom had given him for his birthday on top of everything, then zipped it up. He'd taken his birthday envelope out of the middle pages first, and stuffed it in his pocket. He didn't have much, but Joe had saved what little he could over the past few years. But at least he could hang onto most of it and spend it only on food, because there was no way Joe was going to be able to take a knife like that on any kind of public transportation. He would just have to start walking, and maybe he would be able to hitch a ride from time to time. God would provide. There was still time for him to get there. The baby's father hadn't come upon the way to age him, yet. But Joe had better not dawdle, either.

He went into the small kitchen area and found a pen and a piece of paper in one of the drawers. His mom was out, of course. The Beast had called Joe's mom a whore, but she wasn't; not really. She was just a lonely woman who lived in a trailer park with an eighteen-year-old son who didn't fit in, anywhere they went. As Josiah's divine mission had become clear to him, he had distanced himself emotionally from his mother. Once he had started on his journey, Joe knew he would not be coming back. He suspected his mom knew that, too.

So Joe penned a quick note to her, telling her that he was setting out on his own, to "find himself". That was a phrase he'd heard somebody use once on a TV show, and it sounded like something that a guy his age would say. He thanked her for taking such good care of him for all of those years. It couldn't have been easy. He loved her, and he hoped she would be happy.

Joe tapped the pen on the paper for a moment, indecisive. Should he add something about contacting her, once he got settled? No, he'd better not. He didn't want her to worry, but he didn't want to give her false hope, either. It was best just to make a clean break of it. Maybe with him gone, she could find a man to settle down with. Hopefully a good man, this time. Not like Joe's father.

He picked up his bag and exited the trailer, letting the door close and lock behind him.

"Why does Dean keep calling me 'H.C.'?" Cas asked Sam, puzzled.

Sam nearly choked on his lemonade. It was early afternoon now, and they were all gathering in the living room, preparing to watch Barry on TV. Cas had discreetly transported their friend to the TV studio, after helping him choose an outfit to wear. Barry was going to call Cas on his cell phone when he was ready for pickup, but in the meantime, they were all going to watch the show together, as a family.

"I have no idea, Cas," Sam said innocently, his lips twitching.

"Maybe it stands for 'Holy Cas'," Frank said, grinning wickedly.

Cas's forehead wrinkled. "Why would Dean call me THAT? He's called me a lot of things over the years, but..."

"Maybe it's for 'Handsome Cas', Gail chipped in. "That would be MY vote." She sat down beside her husband, snuggling against him on the couch. Gail was so happy, at the moment. This was the most fun they'd had together in ages. It was such a shame that this occasion had arisen from such a sad and tragic event. But she didn't want to dwell on that, right now. Things had been bad enough lately with the losses of all their loved ones, without concentrating on that aspect of it.

Dean came into the living room, swinging Peter by the ankles. "Look out! Here comes the helicopter!" He spun the boy around a few times, until Peter protested: "I'm gonna throw up." Dean looked stricken, setting him down immediately. "Ha, ha. Faked you out!" Peter said happily.

"Come here," Carolyn said to her son. "Sit beside me. Barry's going to be on TV in a minute."

Peter ran over towards his mother, but because Dean had made him dizzy, the little boy ran sideways a few steps, and then he fell down. Gail clapped a hand over her mouth, trying to hold in the laugh that wanted to escape.

"Oopsie-daisy," Mike said with a grin. "Let me help you out with that." He scooped Peter up in his arms and deposited the boy next to his mother, joining the two of them on the loveseat.

Dean sat down beside Gail, raising an eyebrow to her. "What's WRONG with you?" he asked her, noticing that she was still trying valiantly not to laugh. "What have you got against kids, anyway?"

She eyed him. "Why are you calling Cas 'H.C.'?" she asked Dean suspiciously. "What does that stand for?"

Awww, crap. Busted, Dean thought. But before he could come up with a credible answer that wouldn't get him punched, Mike said, "Shhhh. It's starting."

Barry had been so nervous before the show. It was funny, too; a while back, he had sung and danced on the stage several nights a week in their community theatre, so it wasn't as if he was a stranger to performing in public. But those had been lines he was reciting, and other peoples' lyrics he had been singing. Now it was just him being him, and he wanted to do Tommy proud.

But the woman who was conducting the interview had put him at ease, and soon, he almost forgot that there were TV cameras focused on him. After Joan had introduced Barry and made him welcome, she asked him how the book had come to be. Barry had smiled warmly. He had already decided that he was going to try to hang onto his emotions, if he could. It was still difficult, but he wanted to talk about Tommy with love and admiration. If he sat here and bawled like a baby, Barry felt like he would rob Tommy of the dignity and respect that he and his book deserved. That was why he was determined not to even bring up the subject of the murder at all.

"A very good friend of ours named Jody told Tommy to write about what he loved," Barry told Joan. "So, that's just what he did. Primarily, the book is a love story."

"He mentioned Mom!" Angela exclaimed, and Frank gave his daughter a squeeze, smiling. Barry had mentioned quietly to Frank earlier that he wanted to pay tribute to Jody, too, but he hadn't wanted to upset his friend or the kids by tossing Jody's name in there, out of the blue. Frank had clapped a hand on Barry's shoulder and said that he thought that would be very nice. Then both men had started to tear up, and then, they had ended up hugging it out. There had been a lot of hugs between the family members that morning, and more than a few tears shed, as well.

"But it's much more than just a love story between my husband and me," Barry went on. "It's also a story about love for yourself, and acceptance. Even if your family and friends aren't able, or choose not to, accept you for who you truly are, you have to work on accepting yourself." He took a breath. So far, so good. He wasn't crying. Yet. "It's also about being a stranger in a strange land. That was how Tommy used to put it. He did a hitch in the military, and then he became a journalist, a foreign correspondent for a newspaper here in Vancouver. Both of those environments have traditionally been male bastions. Lots and lots of macho men. Tommy writes about how he coped with all of that. It's a mainly uplifting book and message, but he doesn't pull any punches, either. For everyone who showed him friendship and acceptance, there were others who definitely didn't. My Tommy had a lot of admirable qualities, but he wasn't a martyr, either." Yes, he was, the little voice in Barry's head piped up. That's exactly what he was. But he tried to ignore the voice. He was doing very well, so far. Tommy would be proud.

Barry smiled. "Tommy was a great believer in standing up for what was right. We were very close to a number of different people, from different walks of life. The main role models we had for a romantic couple are actually straight people, a man and a woman. Cas and Gail have been our friends for years now, and they have the kind of marriage we'd all love to have. They're extremely loving and giving people, but they've always said that doesn't mean you should let people walk all over you, either. All Tommy ever wanted was what everyone else wants. The freedom to live his best life."

Oh, crap. Barry's eyes were misting over, now. He shouldn't have said that. Now a lump was forming in his throat that felt like it was the size of a small beach ball. He and Tommy HAD been living their best lives, together, until that punk had decided that Tommy didn't deserve to live any more. It was so unfair.

Joan could see that her guest was becoming emotional, and it was time for a commercial break, anyway. So she leaned forward and put her hand on his arm. Then she looked into the camera. "We'll be right back, after this short commercial break."

Barry sat back in his chair for a moment, grateful for the opportunity to collect himself. "Thank you," he said to her.

"No problem," Joan replied. "Take five, and after the break, we'll talk some more."

The commercials were on now, and Mike turned down the sound on the TV. He took Carolyn's hand. It was tough on her too, he knew. They could tell that Barry was struggling with himself to keep it together, but so far, he was doing a wonderful job.

Dean nudged Gail. "Hey, Cruella, hand me that bowl of chips."

She looked at him, puzzled. "Cruella?" she repeated.

"Yeah. Wasn't she the one who hated kids, in that Disney movie?" he replied.

"Dalmatians," Sam corrected his brother. "She hated dogs."

"Whatever," Dean said, shrugging. "All I know is, she likes to laugh at little kids."

Gail made a face. "Are you still on that? It was one time, Dean."

"Oh, yeah?" he retorted. "Balloon? Cactus? Las Vegas? Ring a bell?"

Gail started to laugh, remembering that incident. "I don't care what you say, THAT was funny," she remarked.

Dean and Sam looked at each other. "Cas, Gail cheated on her taxes," Sam said to his brother.

"Surely you're mistaken," Dean said in his gravelly Cas voice. "If you check the arithmetic again, I'm certain you will find that she did not."

The younger Winchester grinned, as Dean cleared his throat. Man. Imagine talking like that all the time. It was a wonder that Cas didn't carry lozenges around in his pocket.

"Cas," Dean said to Sam, continuing the routine, "Gail was arrested for littering."

Sam cleared his throat too, preparing himself. "We will obtain an apology from the police," Sam said in his own Cas voice. "If she has dropped something, they must help her to find it."

Frank and Gabriel were exchanging quizzical looks. "OK, what is this?" Gail's brother asked the Winchesters. "What are you doing, right now?"

Gail rolled her eyes. "They think they're being funny. They did the same thing to us in Las Vegas."

"That's not funny. It's not funny at all," Gabriel remarked, frowning. He looked at Frank. "It's hilarious!" the Archangel exclaimed, and the men grinned at each other.

"I want in," Frank said eagerly, but just as he was thinking up a good one, Mike said, "Shhhh. It's coming back on."

Phew, Gail thought. Saved by the talk show. She guessed that whole routine was actually kind of funny, but Frank and Gabriel jumping in feet first would be all she needed. She stuck her tongue out at her brother as Mike turned the volume back up on the TV. Frank smirked. That was OK. He could wait. His sister and her husband were eternal beings, and Frank recognized a golden opportunity when he saw one.

"And, we're back, in three, two..." The show's director pointed to Joan, to signal that they were back on the air.

Barry was more or less composed now, but he was also a little bit puzzled. During the commercial break, he had decided to get a drink of water. They assured him that he had time, so he rushed over to the table where there were a number of beverages and snacks set up for the guests and the crew of the show. He grabbed a bottle of water and took several healthy swigs, hoping the water would clear the lump in his throat.

A young crew member sidled up to him. "Are you OK?" he asked Barry.

"Yes, I'm fine," he replied, nodding. "Thanks. Just nervous about being on TV, I guess."

The crew member gave a short laugh. "Geez, it's no wonder. I think you're a brave guy, myself. It's not everybody who can go toe-to-toe with 'Joltin' Joan'."

Wait; what? Barry thought, but the guy was walking away now, and it was time to get back to his seat.

The assistant put the tiny microphone back on the lapel of Barry's jacket, and a moment later, Joan was back, announcing that they were back on the air.

"You've said that one of your main goals in promoting this book is to encourage open and honest dialogue," Joan said to Barry.

"Yes," he agreed. "If we can get people to open their minds and realize that we're all the same, just human beings who are trying to live our lives the best way we can, there might be more love and acceptance in the world. Or, at the very least, tolerance of one another, and the way we choose to live our lives. That's what Tommy would want."

"'We're all the same'," Joan repeated calmly. "Well, in the interests of open and honest dialogue, we've invited a couple of people here today, to take part in the conversation." She looked at the audience. "Please welcome Rich and Patty Wayburn."

The audience clapped dutifully as Barry gasped. No way. It couldn't be.

The couple came out from backstage and sat in two chairs that had been set up on the other side of the show's host. An assistant came forward to attach microphones to their clothing.

"Oh, hell, no!" Carolyn yelled, springing to her feet. Everyone but Mike looked at her, puzzled. But then again, none of their American friends had ever seen Del's parents before.

Mike grabbed Peter and Ilene, hoisting them up into his arms. "Come on, you guys can help me set up the badminton net," he said to the kids. Then: "Hey, Rob, could you and Angela give us a hand?"

Rob looked at Carolyn's boyfriend, his eyes narrowing a bit. He could see what Mike was trying to do; get the kids out of the room. What he didn't know was why, or why Mike had picked HIM to take Angela. Did he think that Rob was a kid, too? But then he saw how upset Carolyn looked, and he picked his little sister up in his arms, sighing. He followed Mike out of the living room, towards the back yard.

"What the hell, Carolyn?" Frank asked Tommy's sister. "Who are those people? Why does Barry look like he's gonna puke?"

Carolyn was fuming. "They're Del's parents. You remember Del, right? Tommy's killer? They're his 'religious', 'Christian' parents. The ones who told Tommy that the Bible says that homosexuals should be burned alive. The ones who tried to keep their precious snowflake of a son out of prison."

Cas's eyes flashed as he stared at the TV. So, these were the people he had heard about. He started to do the slow burn. How dare they?

Barry's mouth was wide open. What the hell was going on, here? He had come here for a civilized chat about his husband's book, and all of a sudden, he was on Geraldo. He had no desire to talk to Del's parents. Why would he? Why SHOULD he? But if he stormed off right now, wouldn't he be negating everything he had just been trying to say?

"You've heard everything we've been talking about," Joan said to Del's parents. "What are your views on the subject?"

"Well, Joan, as good Christian people, we have to say that we're shocked and appalled that you would promote a book about deviant sexuality in the middle of the afternoon, when children could be tuned in," Rich said, frowning.

"That's NOT what the book is about!" Barry exclaimed.

"Oh, no?" Rich said coolly. "A book about one man being with another man? What would you call that?" He laughed shortly. "Never mind; look who I'm asking."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Barry said angrily.

"Isn't it obvious?" Patty piped up. "The Bible says that homosexuality is a Sin, and that a man who lays with another man should be put to death."

"It does not!" Barry shouted. "Show me where it says that!"

"Everyone knows it to be true," Rich said, shaking his head slowly as if he was talking to a child. "The only marriage sanctioned by God is the one between a man and a woman. These co-called 'same sex couples' are abominations, who will not be admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven."

"Oh, like you're an expert on who goes to Heaven," Barry snapped. "How about your son, the murderer? How about 'Thou shalt not kill'?" He looked at Joan. "How can you bring these people on your show? Their son murdered my husband, and he got five years for it. Five years! That's all! Meanwhile, Tommy's sister and the children and I have to wake up every day without the man we loved." He gestured to Del's parents. "This is exactly the kind of vituperative language that Tommy and I had to hear all of our lives. It's this kind of prejudice and intolerance that we're trying to do something about."

"If you want to do something about it, why don't you try being normal, then?" Patty said nastily.

Barry was astonished into speechlessness. What was he even doing here? What was his purpose in being on this show? "Joltin' Joan" was just sitting there, looking back and forth from him to Del's parents, like she was watching a really riveting tennis match. Now, Barry was starting to get an idea of why the crew guy had called her that. This had certainly been a rude jolt, to say the least. Why would she ambush him like this?

"We're going down there, right now," Gail announced. She grabbed Cas's hand, and the two of them vanished.

"Holy crap," Dean breathed. What the hell were those two gonna do?

The Angels reappeared in the TV studio. No one had noticed, because they were all so focused on the spectacle that was taking place.

"You and your kind are an abomination," Rich was saying to Barry. He and his wife seemed to like that word. A lot.

"'My kind'?" Barry exclaimed indignantly. "What kind would that be? Good-looking guys, who dress well?"

"You can blaspheme all you want to, but that doesn't change the fact that what you and your so-called husband were doing is wrong," Patty said tartly.

"No. It is you who are wrong," Cas said loudly, his voice trembling with anger. He and Gail were moving down the aisle. Cas had a hold of Gail's hand, and he was squeezing it firmly now, just short of being painful. She could see him working his jaw, and his eyes were blazing. "How dare you presume to speak for God?"

Barry's lips twitched. Somehow, Cas and Gail's sudden appearance didn't surprise him one bit.

Joan saw the way that Barry was looking at the couple, and she took a shot: "This wouldn't be Cas and Gail, by any chance?" she said to him, trying to contain her excitement. This was turning out even better than she'd hoped. A few months ago, her ratings had been lagging. The station manager they'd had at the time had been adamant that he was against the type of sensationalism that many daytime TV talk shows seemed to feature. He wanted to elevate, enlighten, and educate, Joan's boss had said. Which was all very highbrow and noble, but his philosophy had made her show as dull as dishwater. But after a few weeks of watching her ratings decline steadily, Joan couldn't take it anymore. So she had had her staff search for guests who had the potential for controversy, and if the fireworks just happened to go off because of that potential, well, that wasn't her fault, was it? Soon, she acquired the nickname "Joltin' Joan" because there seemed to be an inordinate number of confrontations between her guests. Oh, she knew what she was doing, all right.

The hostess of the show was happy to see Barry's friends, and she was absolutely thrilled to see that the husband of the straight couple was stalking angrily down the aisle now, towards the stage. Security moved forward to stop him, but Joan waved them off. "Please welcome Cas and Gail to the show," she said, gesturing for the Angels to come to where the four of them were sitting.

Oh, geez, Gail thought. This was a bad idea. But Cas still had her by the hand, and he was striding forward with purpose. Stage assistants rushed to put two more chairs on the stage, beside where Barry was sitting.

"Awww, GEEZ," Dean groaned. Cas had That Look on his face. This could be bad. Really bad. He looked at Gabriel. "Maybe you'd better go get Bobby. It looks like Cas is about to blow a gasket," Dean said to the Archangel.

Gabriel looked at the elder Winchester with a baleful expression. What was he, an errand boy, all of a sudden? Besides, he wanted to see this.

Once Cas and Gail were seated, Joan welcomed them. "I take it you don't agree with Mr. and Mrs. Wayburn's point of view?" she said to Cas.

"Of course we don't," Cas said, tight-lipped. "That is because everything they are saying is wrong."

"Where do you get off saying that?" Rich said, leaning forward in his chair. "Are you a Christian? Or are you a Godless heathen?"

Frank had been taking a swig of beer, and he spat it out now, spraying Sam.

"Dude!" Sam exclaimed, brushing at his shirt.

"Sorry," Frank said, grinning. "But this is just too funny. Cas is the Godless heathen who's gonna kick that guy's Christian ass, in about two seconds! Look at the look on Cas's face! They'd better nail his chair to the floor. Jer-ry! Jer-ry!"

Carolyn glared at Gail's brother. "Look, Frank, I know you like irreverent humour and everything, but could you just cool it for a minute? Think about what we're watching, here. Those horrible people are Tommy's killer's parents, and they're basically sitting there and saying that he deserved what happened to him! I can't take any more of this crap. I'm going outside, to be with Mike and the kids."

Frank felt bad. He was just so used to the family being used to his sense of humour. But he realized he'd been insensitive in this situation. "I'm sorry, Carolyn," he apologized. "I'm a great big ass."

Carolyn nodded in acknowledgement of his apology. Then, her lips twitched briefly. "But if Cas does kick that guy's ass, I'll want a detailed description, after," she quipped. "Better still, set the PVR." Then she left the room.

Gabriel grinned. Now that she was gone, he couldn't help himself. Frank was right; this was too funny.

Cas was looking at Del's parents with narrowed eyes. "It is the two of you and your son who are the abominations," he said in a clipped tone. "You are also liars. The Bible does NOT say that homosexuals are to be put to death. It doesn't even say that same-sex love is a Sin, because it is NOT one. If you have a copy of the Book that says either of those things, it is because certain humans have re-written it, to suit their own agenda. God approves of same-sex marriage just the same as He approves of heterosexual marriage. There is nothing deviant about homosexuality. It is people with closed minds like yours who claim that there is. But if that is your own viewpoint, don't hide behind the Lord God to spout your hate and prejudice. I can assure you, He does not approve, and neither do I."

"Why should we care what you think?" Patty sneered at Cas. "Look at the kind of company you keep."

"Look at the kind of company YOU keep," Cas shot back. "Your husband is an unemployed alcoholic, who beats you when the mood comes upon him. And last year, you were carrying on an adulterous affair with a man down the street. Your son is a murderer, because the two of you raised him to be one. It is your son who should be put to death, and back in my day, he would have been."

Rich leapt from his chair as if to fight Cas, and the Angel stood slowly and calmly. "That would be most inadvisable," Cas warned Del's father. "But just the fact that you are taking this approach makes evident the type of individual you are." He looked down at Joan. "And YOU are a liar, as well. You invited our friend on this show, ostensibly to talk about his husband Tommy's wonderful book, but in reality, you planned this encounter with these reprehensible people, in an attempt to get high ratings. You should be ashamed of yourself." Cas glanced at Gail, and then at Barry. "Tommy was our friend. He was a remarkable man, with many admirable qualities. We will not demean him or his memory by engaging in juvenile name-calling, or listening to your rhetoric of hate and ignorance."

"Don't use words with too many syllables, or they won't understand your insults," Gail quipped, unable to help herself.

Rich looked at her scornfully, and then he called her a name that was definitely not suitable for daytime television. Gail rolled her eyes. Why was it that guys like this always seemed to use that word as their go-to, when confronted by a woman? Cas had just spoken about juvenile name-calling, and this narrow-minded Neanderthal had just proved his point.

But Cas was done trying to make calm, logical arguments now. Well, if he'd ever been calm at all, that was. He had come in here hot, and Del's parents had been fanning the flames. And now, Rich had called Gail what she referred to as "the magic word". There was no way he would be allowed to get away with that, TV show or no TV show.

As Cas's arm wound up, presumably to punch Rich in the face at the very least, the men back in Barry's house all turned their heads to look at Gabriel. "NOW, will you go and get Bobby?" Dean demanded, but Gabe was already gone.

Bobby waited for Cas to sock Del's father in the face before stepping in. As soon as Rich went down like a ton of bricks, Bobby froze every occupant of the studio, and then he disabled all of the cameras with another wave of his hand. Then he put his hand on top of Cas's still-clenched fist, to heal the Angel's red, blistering knuckles.

"I hope you put some extra mustard on that one, 'cause it's the only one you're gonna get," Bobby told Cas sternly, although his beard was twitching as he looked at Gail. "You're welcome, dear."

Bobby moved over to where Barry stood, unfrozen but stunned. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner," the reigning God said to their human friend. "You shouldn't have had to be subjected to any of that crap."

Barry recovered enough to sigh and say, "Thanks, Bobby. But, you know what? In a way, I'm almost glad it happened. Now, the viewers will have seen the kind of nonsense we've had to put up with, all these years. That guy's views are a little extreme, but he and his wife are hardly the only ones who feel that way, unfortunately. Tommy's own parents did too, and they raised most of his siblings to be the same way. That's probably why he reacted so strongly to these people." Tears formed in Barry's eyes, but he smiled tremulously as he looked at Cas and Gail. "It was very sweet of you two to march in here to my rescue, though."

"People like that should be made to see the error of their ways," Cas said, still fuming.

Barry glanced skyward. "Hopefully, Tom-Tom will forgive me if I remind you how hot your husband is when he gets like this," he quipped, winking at Gail.

She gave him a small smile. "I don't need to be reminded, believe me," Gail said, looking admiringly at Cas. "And I'm pretty sure Tommy's thinking the exact same thing...as you," she finished, somewhat lamely. She'd been about to say something like "wherever he is", but with Bobby here now, that was an uncomfortable topic. Gail knew that Bobby had been combing the Garden every day, looking for any or all of their fallen family members, but finding none of them. He was doing everything he could, so none of the survivors had been pestering him about it. In fact, that was where Bobby had been, when Gabriel had suddenly shown up and said he'd better come and save Cas from himself. Bobby had deputized Gabriel, Cas and Gail a while back, for lack of a better term, to allow them all access to the Garden. He might be God, but he couldn't be everywhere, all at once. Heaven was still employing the sorting system that had been established under Cas's administration, because it worked so well.

Cas had been mainly relieved when Bobby had shown up here at the studio. He had been in a state of rage at the attitude of Del's parents and the inflammatory things they'd said, and when the man had spoken that disgusting word to Gail, his fury had increased that much more. For a split second, he'd considered pulling his blade, and exacting some measure of revenge for Tommy's murder. But these weren't Biblical times, and Barry had suffered enough indignity here. So at the last moment, Cas had reined himself in. But the man was owed a punch in the face, at the barest minimum, so Cas had delivered one.

Bobby was also relieved. Knowing Cas as he did, the reigning God had come to the studio expecting...well, pretty much anything. Luckily, Cas hadn't carved the guy up, or blasted him into next week. Still, Bobby thought it was best that they all bail on this situation, right now. "I'll un-freeze everybody in a second," he told the others. "Gabe, put that guy back in his chair. Cas and Gail, take Barry home. Me and Gabe'll be along in a minute." He waited for a protest from Cas, but thankfully, there was none. The couple took one hand of Barry's each, and the trio disappeared.

Gabe waved his hand with a contemptuous expression on his face, and Rich's unconscious form was slammed back into his chair. The Archangel looked at Bobby, smirking. "Oops," he said. Then: "So, are we modifying everyone, or what?"

Bobby thought about that for a moment. "Normally, I'd say yeah. But, you know what? I think we'll just leave it like this. Let 'em wonder where they went. But I think the people who saw this whole debacle should remember what they saw here. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Bigot here actually proved Barry's point for him. And if Big Rich there wonders why his jaw hurts so bad, they can tell him it's from flapping his gums so much. After all, Rich is just another word for Dick, isn't it?"

Gabriel gaped at Bobby for a couple of seconds, and then the Archangel started to smile. "You know what, Bobby? You're my kind of deity," Gabe told him.

"Well, now that I have your endorsement, I can rest easy," Bobby said sardonically, but he was pleased by the compliment. "Let's go spend some time with the family," God said, nodding to Gabriel in acknowledgement. He waved his hands to re-animate everyone in the studio, and he and Gabriel vanished.

VIGNETTE - THOSE WERE THE DAYS

Cas and Gail were at Frank's place, talking with her brother and Rob at the kitchen table. There were a couple of reasons Gail had wanted to go there. One was that she'd felt they were overdue for a discussion about Vincent, and the apparent fact that it was Eric's adoptive mother who had been looking to kill his progeny.

They'd had Rob do some research, based on what they knew about Vincent's offspring. Sam and Dean had gone out on the road, but Gail had popped over to the bunker and helped herself to the box that contained the Master List of the surviving "kids". She hadn't forgotten that Agnes Bidwell had been shot to death a while back, and according to Rob's Internet research, Aggie's killer had never been identified.

"I don't like the sound of that," Frank said, sitting back in his chair and regarding them all. "So, you think this whackjob of a woman is running around trying to eliminate the rest of his kids?"

"That's what we believe, yes," Cas confirmed soberly.

Frank looked at his son, but Rob was already shaking his head. "I know what you're going to say, Dad, but the answer is no. I'm not going on lockdown again. I was a kid when Lucifer was here on Earth, but I'm a man now, and I'm a Hunter. Alice is a human, just like we are. I'll be careful, but I'm not gonna start living my life in fear."

Cas was nodding. If the subject matter were not so serious, he might have smiled. Rob was sounding just like his half-sister. Gail had never been willing to sit in a gilded cage, even back in the early days of their relationship, when she had been much more vulnerable because she had been far less capable. But, like Gail, Rob was seasoned now, and presumably able to take care of himself.

It was Gail who had the concerned look on her face, in this instance. "She may be human, but she's obviously got access to dark magic, to say the least," Gail said to the men. "She's using gris-gris bags, and speaking incantations in Creole. Sounds like some kind of New Orleans voodoo, to me. Maybe we should find out if the guys have any contacts in the occult arts. Does anybody know when they're coming back?"

No one did, but before they had the chance to discuss the subject further, Frank's cell phone rang.

It was Bobby, and he was upset. "You're not gonna believe what they're telling me, here," he said to Frank.

Gail's brother looked at the phone, his forehead wrinkling. "Yeah? What's that?"

"I think you'd better get down here and hear this," Bobby said, and Frank could hear how agitated their friend was.

"OK, OK, Bobby. Calm down. I'll be right there," Frank said, placating him. "Actually, Cas and Gail are here right now. I could get them to zap me over there, if you want."

"Do that," Bobby said tersely, and then he hung up the phone.

"What's going on?" Gail asked her brother.

"I don't know," he said, thoughtful. "Bobby's at Angela's school. He wanted to pick her up, today. He's kind of into this whole 'Grandpa' thing. So I said sure. She's been going for a week now, and she's been so excited when she gets home every day. I just figured he wanted in on that. But he sounds pissed off. I guess we'd better get down there and find out what's going on." He looked at Rob, who gave him a half-shrug. "I'll stay here, Dad," his son said. Then Rob smiled thinly. "Don't worry; if someone named Alice comes to the door, I won't open it."

Gail did a double-take. Wow. She wasn't sure how she felt about hearing Rob joke around like that. He was obviously trying to be like his dad, but there were very few people who could get away with that sort of humour. Frank used irreverent jokes and inappropriate comments to cover up his pain, but Rob had always worn his heart on his sleeve, and Gail didn't want to see him lose that quality.

But Rob was Frank's kid, not hers. And right now, it sounded like there might be a problem with his other child. "Let's go," she said, extending her hand to her brother.

"I'm Angela's father, Frank," Gail's brother said to the teacher. "And you must be Ms. Palmer."

"Betty," she said, extending her hand. "I saw you at Orientation, but we didn't get a chance to talk then. Angela's a lovely girl. She's a pleasure to have in my class. And from what I've been able to see so far, she's very bright, too."

"Well, I've gotta say, I'm relieved to hear that," Frank said, smiling. "I was afraid you were going to tell me she was in trouble, or something."

"No, not at all," the teacher said, "although, I think I upset Angela's grandfather." She appraised Cas and Gail. "And, you are..."

"Sorry," Frank said quickly. "This is my sister Gail, and her husband, Cas. Angela's aunt and uncle," he added, somewhat unnecessarily. "They were at my house when Bobby - Angela's Grandpa - called."

"Oh." Betty looked at the quartet. They must be a close family. These three had certainly gotten here fast enough. Bobby was sitting in a chair opposite her desk with his arms folded, frowning. She sighed.

"So, what's going on?" Frank wanted to know.

"Go ahead and show them that stuff you were showing me," Bobby said to the teacher. "Go ahead. Show 'em," he repeated, gesturing.

"It's our Emergency Preparedness Kit," Ms. Palmer explained, handing the paperwork to Frank. "Every child has to take this material home, and learn it. So do the parents. We need you to initial and date each page, keep a copy for yourself, and return a copy to us for Angela's file. We need verification that she understands the material, and we'll need you to fill out the form that details her medical history, including her blood type."

Frank looked at all the paperwork with an incredulous expression. "Ummm...this is Grade 1, not an application for the FBI. I mean, come on. All this, so you can teach her how to line up for a fire drill? Single file, follow your teacher, walk, don't run. There. Done. That's how they did it in my school. I don't imagine it's changed much," he said mildly.

"It ain't a fire drill," Bobby said with an edge to his voice. "Look closer. It's instructions on what to do in case some maniac comes here to shoot up the school."

Frank's mouth dropped open as he shuffled through the papers again. "You're kidding me, right?"

"I'm afraid not," Betty replied. "I understand it's upsetting..."

"Upsetting?!" Bobby exclaimed. "She's just a little girl!"

"Do you think I don't know that?" Betty said, and now, there was an edge to her voice, too. "Surely you must be aware of what's been going on in the schools and workplaces all over our country. Preparing for school shootings is part of the curriculum, now."

Wow, Gail thought. She couldn't come up with another word. Just...wow. Little kids Angela's age, having to think about crap like that. Gail remembered when she'd been just about Angela's age, seeing a headline in the newspaper her dad - correction, Frank's dad - was reading: "Nuclear War May Be Imminent". Gail had been terrified. Even at her tender age, she'd known what that meant. She'd run crying, not to her adoptive parents, but to Frank. A pretty telling fact right there, in retrospect. Her brother had reassured her, saying that they said junk like that in the papers all the time. Sensational headlines sold papers. It was simple math. He told her not to worry; the Russians didn't give a crap about bombing their little house in the middle of no place. He'd made her feel better about the whole thing. Frank was right, Gail realized. She was panicking for nothing.

But now, there was this. The facts were ugly, but indisputable. School shootings were all too common in the United States these days, and little children weren't exempt. Gail felt nauseous as she looked at pictures of brightly-coloured window shades for the windows in classroom doors. Rainbows, butterflies...All very pretty and very innocent, until you realized that the designs were for something called "lockdown shades".

"'Lockdown shades'?" Cas said aloud, mirroring his wife's thought pattern. "What are those?"

"What the hell do ya think they are, Cas?" Bobby said angrily. This whole thing was extremely disturbing to him. What had the world come to? When had they become a society that had to worry about their kids becoming murder victims, when they had barely even learned how to read and write?

"It's an unfortunate fact of life, for our generation," Ms. Palmer said grimly. "My sister was a victim of the Blackburn Elementary School shootings earlier this year, so believe me, I realize how heartbreaking it is to even contemplate." A tear squeezed out of the corner of her eye and dribbled down her cheek, and the teacher removed her glasses, swiping almost angrily at it. "Lois died protecting the kids in her class. These were kids not much older than Angela, whose only crime was showing up for school that day. It was the same with Lois. All she ever wanted to do, practically since she was a kid herself, was to teach kids. Help them to grow, and succeed. When she heard the gunshots down the hall, she put a couple of the more mature kids in charge of evacuating the smaller ones out the back door of the classroom. They were lucky; it just so happened that there was an adjoining door there that led to the library, which had an emergency exit. So, while the kids were making their escape, Lois went out into the hallway, to get the shooter's attention. She tried to reason with him, according to witnesses. He shot her, anyway, and then she died, still trying to persuade him to leave the kids alone. But she died a heroine: her entire class survived."

They had all been shocked into silence by Angela's teacher's story. Frank continued to stare unbelievingly at the literature he'd been given. Instructions for the kids on how to stay quiet during a lockdown. How to protect themselves during an active shooting. Pamphlets on how to deal with the trauma associated with a shooting, either at your child's school, or at another. There were things called "lockdown drill bags" that contained, among other items, lollipops that the kids could suck on, to soothe them and keep them quiet. And the most heart-clenching thing of all: Lockdown "nursery rhymes", to help the kids remember what to do: "Underneath the desk and hide, wait until it's safe outside." Good God. Holy, mother-loving...

"You know, this generation of children may have a lot more conveniences and technology at their disposal than we had in our day, but they also have many more issues to worry about. Serious ones," Betty continued in a somber tone. "School shootings, terrorism, nuclear wars..." Gail looked at her sharply. Apparently, that particular one was a fear that transcended generations. "...abduction by serial killers, et cetera," Betty went on. She sighed wistfully. "Remember when our biggest worry was whether we would get that new bike we so desperately wanted for Christmas? Kids should be able to hang onto that kind of innocence as long as possible. They grow up fast enough, as it is. Why can't we give them at least a few years of believing in Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny, and unicorns...?"

Now, Betty started to cry in earnest. She took her glasses off again and wiped her eyes with her hands. Bobby sprang out of his chair and offered her a handkerchief. She took it, smiling tremulously.

Once Angela's teacher had collected herself a bit, she looked at them all and said, "I'm sorry, but I just love these kids so much. Each and every one of them. Even the little hellions."

They all laughed, grateful for the opportunity to cut through the sadness and horror of the subject matter.

"That's why I'm still here," she went on. "That's why I keep going. After Lois died, people asked me why I didn't just quit. But I'll never quit. If I do, those scumbags with the guns win. I'll never give up on my kids. Not ever. Even if I have to die for them."

They were all silent again. Then Frank cleared his throat, trying to banish the giant lump that had formed there. He extended his hand to the woman. "I'd like to thank you, on behalf of all of the parents," he said as Ms. Palmer took his hand. "You know what?" Frank continued. "For a minute there, when you were talking about all this stuff, I thought about just pulling my kid out of school altogether. Who the hell needs to worry about that kind of crap? We have those kinds of drills at City Hall, too, but I'm a big boy. The thought of kids Angela's age having to worry about getting shot..." He cleared his throat again, and Gail put her hand on her brother's arm, giving it a squeeze. She knew better than anyone else how much he was struggling to hang onto his emotions right now. Frank put his arm around Gail's shoulders. "But, it's people like you who make me believe that things can be better. I'm glad you're Angela's teacher," Frank told the woman. They shook hands and Betty sniffled back a few more tears, using Bobby's handkerchief again.

"Keep it," Bobby said gruffly. "I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time, earlier. All of this just came as a helluva shock. In my day, things were a lot different."

"Believe me, I get it," Betty replied, nodding. She looked at all of their faces and smiled, and this time, her smile was warm and genuine. "You know, it's good to see a family that's so close, and so invested in a child's well-being. That makes ME believe that things can be better."

"We'd better get going," Frank said. "I'm gonna be peeling my kid off the ceiling, as it is. Every day, she comes home jumping up and down, telling me and her brother all about everything she's learning, and the books you're reading, and the friends she's making...You're gonna have to cut down on the caffeine you're giving those kids," Frank quipped.

Betty looked at him uncertainly, and Gail rolled her eyes. "Don't mind my brother. That's his sense of humour," Gail said to the teacher. "He thinks he's really funny, but he's an acquired taste, let's just put it that way."

"I think Frank is very funny," Cas piped up. "Almost as funny as I am."

"Well, there's a ringing endorsement for ya," Bobby said dryly. "Come on, gang, let's go."

This time, Betty did laugh. What a wonderful family.


	9. Scary Movie

Chapter 8 - Scary Movie

Gail was stressing out. It was the morning of October 31st, and she still had no idea what their costumes should be.

Cas was no help whatsoever. He'd kept telling her that he would go along with whatever she decided. But, that was the trouble. She couldn't think of a couples' theme that really spoke to her.

"Why don't you both just go as Angels?" Sam had joked.

"Oh, very funny, Sam," Gail said, making a face at him. She was setting the table at the bunker. Sam and Dean and Nicole were going to have breakfast, and then Cas and Gail were going to teleport their friends to the next stop on the Hallowe'en Tour, as Dean was calling it. They had a fun day planned.

"You could go as some other kind of otherworldly beings," Nicole suggested, pouring coffee for herself and the brothers. "Elves? Fairies?"

Dean shuddered. "Not fairies. Never joke about fairies."

Nicole did a double-take. Okie-dokie.

"Gail could be a Hobbit. She's little enough," Sam wisecracked, bringing the bowl with the eggs to the table.

"Thanks, Hagrid," Gail retorted, and Sam grinned.

"Why'd you leave it till the last minute?" Dean asked her, buttering his toast. "You're usually a lot more organized than that."

Gail glanced quickly at Sam, and then she looked away. She couldn't tell these guys that she'd been preoccupied because she, Cas and Gabriel had all been spending time in Heaven's library, researching the Beast of the Apocalypse. They still hadn't figured out how to tell Sam that not only was Brian the Beast, but he wasn't even Sam's son. He was Vincent's. Would Sam even believe them? And even if he did, there was no way he would be on board when it came to killing a baby. So the three Angels had been doing a lot of research, trying to figure out if there was any way to prove conclusively what Brian was, and what kind of harm he could do. But the results had been negligible so far.

But today was Angela's birthday, and it was also Hallowe'en. The adults were all going to get together and take the kids out for some fun activities, and of course, Angela's birthday was going to be celebrated, as well. Frank had said that next year they would probably split up the two occasions, so his daughter could have her birthday party on a day when everybody wasn't walking around looking like something he and Rob wanted to kill.

"What are you guys going as?" Gail asked Nicole.

Dean's girlfriend laughed. "Well, it took some negotiation on my part, but we finally reached a compromise. Actually, Dean and Sam and I are going as the Little Rascals."

"Guess where we got the inspiration?" Dean said, smirking.

Gail looked at her husband. "Great. They're making fun of us," she said.

"Maybe we should go as Sam and Dean, then," Cas said, his lips twitching.

"Gail would have to grow at least three feet in height, and you'd have to get a lot better-looking," Dean said, nudging Cas.

"Although, if we made out a lot, a bunch of those fan fiction people would be very happy," Gail wisecracked.

"Maybe you should be me, and I should be Dean, then," Cas said, going along with the joke. "Then, an even bigger percentage of them would be happy."

Dean groaned. "Hey, don't make me lose my appetite. I plan on doing a lot of drinking today."

"And, that would be different from any other day...how?" Sam teased his brother.

Gail sighed. "Well, this is all very entertaining, but it still doesn't solve our problem," she remarked. She looked at Cas. "Can I borrow your phone, sweetie?"

Cas handed it over, and Gail looked up a local costume store on Google. "Maybe we'll just go there, and see what they have," she said, punching in the number.

"You're going to a costume place on Hallowe'en? Good luck with that," Sam said.

"I hate to say this, but he's right," Nicole stated. "You might as well just go in your underwear, and be a slutty...well, anything," she said to Gail. "Let's face it, that's what most of the grownup costumes are for women, anyway."

"Why don't you grab some grape leaves, and go as Adam and Eve?" Sam joked. He was on a roll, now.

"It was fig leaves, and I don't think Gail wants to dress up as her mother-in-law, even as well as they got along," Cas said mildly.

"Shhhh, it's ringing," Gail said, holding up her hand for quiet. "Oh, hello," she said pleasantly when a man answered the phone. "What time are you open until?"

"Noon," the man replied.

"Noon?" Gail echoed. "Why?"

"Because we're open until noon," he replied.

Gail took the phone away from her ear and looked at it incredulously. Was he kidding with that? Had the "seasonal vegetables" waiter from that restaurant changed jobs? "Ummm...I meant, why so early?" she tried again.

"Lady, it's Hallowe'en, and it's a Saturday," the man said, sighing audibly. "I don't even know why we're open now. We've got nothing left. At this point, you could just slap a few grape leaves on, and go as Eve."

"They were fig leaves," Gail retorted, but the guy had already hung up. She jabbed the End Call button anyway, just on general principles.

The Winchesters and Nicole exchanged amused glances. "Hey, I know what: why don't you go as the Lady and the Tramp?" Dean said, affecting an innocent expression. Gail looked at him suspiciously, but he quickly went back to eating his breakfast.

"How about animals? A lion, and a lioness? A duck and a drake? A penguin and a polar bear?" Sam suggested, grinning.

"They should just be two big lips, kissing," Dean said around a mouthful of food. "That's what they look like most of the time, anyway."

"When did you guys get so mean?" Gail said, rolling her eyes again. "Fine. You know what? If you're not going to help, you'll just have to get to Frank's place by yourselves, while Cas and I work out our costumes."

Nicole took a swig of her coffee. "Come on, you guys. We need to think of something. This is the first full weekend I've had off in ages, and I want to get my drink on." They looked at her, and she shrugged. "What? It's OK if Dean says it, but not if I do?"

Sam nodded in acknowledgement. She had a point, there. "How about if the two of you go as wizards?"

Gail shook her head. "Robes? No." She appraised Cas, gesturing. "It would be a shame to hide all this gorgeousness under a big, bulky robe. How about someone shirtless, maybe?"

Dean dropped his fork onto his empty plate. "That's it. I've officially lost my appetite," he complained.

Nicole eyed her boyfriend. "Objection. States facts not in evidence," she quipped, and Sam's face broke into a grin. "Up top," the younger Winchester said, and he and Nicole high-fived smartly.

"We've been watching courtroom dramas together," Sam explained to Cas and Gail.

"Tarzan and Jane," Nicole said suddenly, and Gail's face lit up. "NOW, you're talking!" she enthused. "My husband in a loincloth, carrying me around the jungle? I thought it was Hallowe'en, not Christmas!" The women started to crack jokes, as Sam and Dean rose from the table to clear away the dishes. Cas smiled. It was funny how Dean automatically did things like that without any sort of argument when Nicole was around.

"You'll have to work on your Tarzan yell, Cas," Nicole said, laughing.

"Find some reruns of the Carol Burnett Show online," Sam grinned. "She's got the best one."

"I'd better start thinking about which one of you will be our faithful companion, Cheetah," Cas said affably.

"You know that Cheetah's a monkey, right?" Dean asked his friend.

"Why, yes, Dean. I do," Cas replied with a straight face.

"And just like that, Cas gets the last word," Gail said, rising from her seat at the breakfast table. She extended her hand to her husband. "We'll go get our costumes, and we'll be back in a few minutes. Feel free to vote on who gets to be the monkey, while we're gone."

Then she and Cas disappeared, leaving three bemused humans behind.

"Oh, real original, Mike," Paul teased Carolyn's boyfriend. "You're dressed like a mechanic."

"So what?" Mike said mildly.

"Ummm...you ARE a mechanic," Kevin pointed out.

"Hey! Mike and the Mechanics! I just got that!" Frank said, nudging Kevin. The younger Angel looked at him blankly.

"Now you know how I feel, all the time," Bobby quipped to Frank. "Hey, where's the birthday girl?"

Right on cue, Angela ran into the living room. "Grandpa!" she exclaimed.

He looked at her, startled. The little girl's skin was coloured green, from head to toe. "Who are you supposed to be?" he asked the little girl. "The Jolly Green Giant's wife?"

"Paging Sam Winchester," Frank called out.

"I'm Gailora, from Guardians of the Nursery," Angela said brightly.

Now it was Bobby's turn to be mystified. "Huh?" he said.

"You had to be there," Cas said, picking Angela up for a hug. "You look beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the original model," he told her.

Gail smiled as Angela bussed Cas on the cheek. "Thanks, Uncle Cas!" she said, hugging his neck.

"THAT'S what we should have done!" Gail said, throwing her hands up in the air. "We should have dressed like our characters!"

"I am Galoot," Dean said in a deep voice, and they laughed.

Cas was still bouncing Angela up and down in his arms. She looked at him, cocking her head to the side. "Angels always have to tell the truth, right?" she asked her uncle.

Cas smiled. "We should, yes."

Angela glanced at her father, and then she said, "Daddy says that on Hallowe'en, if we go up to a house and say 'Trick or Treat', they have to give us candy. Is that true?"

"So they tell me," Cas answered with light humour. "But because I'm supposed to tell you the truth, I have to be honest with you: I've never done it, myself."

"Did I just hear a 'Never Have I Ever'?" Frank said, grinning. "Quick: somebody get Cas one of those little plastic pumpkins."

"It's not his fault," Rob joined in. "Where would he have gone trick-or-treating? His was the only house, back then!"

"Not bad, kiddo," Frank said, nodding his head with approval.

Peter and Ilene came into the room, holding hands. Laurel smiled. She'd been so glad to receive the invitation. After a number of counselling sessions, she was feeling a little better about things. She was still mourning Chuck, of course, but Laurel had come to the realization that she had been allowing her grief to turn into bitterness, and that wasn't who she was. She had started slowly opening up to Bobby, who always made time for her, and he had encouraged her to reach out to their other friends.

"What are you dressed up as?" she asked the kids.

"I'm a Ninja warrior," Peter told her, and Ilene said, "I'm a lady wrestler."

Barry shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me," he told everyone. "We all know I'm not exactly the most macho role model. I think they must take after Mike."

"I think they take after Carolyn," Frank said half-jokingly. "She's the scarier of the two."

Cas put Angela down. She was eager to go play with her "cousins". George was there, too. Since there weren't very many kids in the human family, and George had been part of the larger celebrations before, Gail had asked Karen and Ethan if they would like to bring him. Karen had cried, saying that she had never been able to take George out for Hallowe'en when they'd been humans. Although it would be kind of a moot point now, at least as far as the candy was concerned, Karen and Ethan had told their son that he should dress up in a costume and have fun with the other kids.

"I'm a cowboy," George announced, somewhat unnecessarily. He was wearing a cowboy hat and a belt with toy pistols at his hips.

"Are you sure?" Kevin quipped.

"Hey, you guys," Frank said to the kids. "Do you know why skeletons never go trick-or-treating?"

"Here we go," Gabriel said, smirking.

"No. Why?" Angela asked her father.

"Because they have no body to go with," Frank said gleefully, as all the adults groaned.

"So, we're going to the cornstalk maze just outside of town," Gail announced. "We'll split up into teams, and the first team to find their way out will win a prize."

"The team captains are me, Dean, Frank, and Rob," Sam told the children. "One Hunter per team. Don't worry, we'll protect you, in case we run into any scary ghosts, or monsters."

Peter grabbed Sam's hand. "I'm coming with you, Uncle Sam."

The younger Winchester smiled. He couldn't wait until Brian was old enough to do cool stuff like this with.

"Wait. Time Out," Dean said, gesturing. "All Sammy has to do is peek over the corn. He's tall enough to see over everything."

"The cornstalks are over twenty feet tall, Dean," Cas pointed out.

Dean spread his hands out. "And your point is...?" He looked at Angela. "You can come with me, Gailora. What do you do, if you see a ghost?"

"Salt and burn!" she said happily, and Frank grinned. "I'm so proud," Gail's brother said.

"Hey! What about us Angels?" Gail protested.

"You? No way. I know how competitive you are," Frank said, shaking his head. "You'll just cheat, and zap your team out."

"That's a terrible thing to say!" she protested indignantly. "Suggesting that I would compromise the integrity of the competition like that." She looked at Rob, winking. "I would TOTALLY do that."

"See? That's why you're staying outside," Frank said firmly. "Sorry; humans only."

"Fine," Bobby said. "Somebody's gotta be there to see who comes out first, anyway. If anybody gets really lost, just send up a prayer, and we'll come and get you."

"Eventually," Gail teased.

"But you can't take too long, 'cause we've got Angela's party, back here," Karen reminded everyone. "Ethan and I and Paul and Linda will stay here and get everything ready."

"Yeah, and then we're taking you out trick-or-treating," Rob added.

"You're lucky, because you'll be going to Peter and Ilene's neighbourhood first, and then back here," Gail added. "No other kids will be able to say they hit up two countries in one night."

"And then, to top it all off, there's the haunted house, and the haunted hayride, in Ottawa," Nicole chipped in.

"That's a lot of haunting," Frank said affably. "We'd better suit up, Hunters."

"Let's go, let's go!" Angela exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement.

Gail had had prizes for all four kids, of course, and trophies were awarded to all four teams as they came out of the maze.

Dean's team emerged first, earning them the Expert Hunter trophy. Angela was thrilled, and Dean puffed out his chest proudly. Henri and Kevin had come along with them, so they got trophies, too.

Next was Frank's team, and he made a face when he found out that Dean had beat him by only a few minutes. "I TOLD you we should have turned left at that last fork," Frank grumbled to Barry. Laurel was holding Ilene's hand. The little girl didn't care that they had come in second; she had been having so much fun with Daddy Barry, Aunt Laurel, and Uncle Frank. Gail's brother had been full of bad dad jokes, and Laurel and Barry had lavished Ilene with love and attention. Sometimes it was easy to be overlooked when you were the youngest, and there had been a lot of things going on to preoccupy the adults in Ilene's life lately. Mike had just gotten his full mechanic's license, and after Barry's appearance on "Joltin' Joan"'s show, sales of Tommy's autobiography had gone through the roof. Other shows had contacted him, asking him to appear, both in Canada and in the States. But thus far, Barry had refused them all. That experience had been so negative that he was gun-shy, now. Carolyn was aware of and sensitive to that fact, but she also thought that they should strike while the iron was hot, as the saying went. So, she had been contemplating reaching for the stars. Literally. She had the first draft of an e-mail on her computer at home that she was going to edit and then send off to the Ellen Show.

"Who's being competitive now?" Gail teased her brother, handing out the Second Place trophies. Barry looked at his. "'Senior Hunter'? Hey, I'll take that, any day," he remarked with a smile.

"That's because you're not gonna have Dean Winchester lording it over you for who knows how long," Frank grumbled.

"Well, I had fun," Laurel said, holding her trophy aloft. "Thanks for including me."

Rob's team was out next, and his face fell a bit when he saw that Dean and his dad were already out. Bobby had decided at the last minute to go, and although he and his de facto grandson had joked about it, Bobby wouldn't even consider using his Godly powers to get a leg up, of course. What kind of example would that set? Nicole had tagged along with their group because she'd never been in a corn maze before, and also because she'd wanted an opportunity to get to know Bobby a bit better. He was a down-to-earth man, who was surprisingly paternal with the men in their group. Nicole had had the impression that Bobby was kind of a curmudgeon, but she was beginning to realize that there was much more to him than that.

Gail presented the trophies labelled Intrepid Hunter to each of Rob's team members, and then they all waited for Sam's team to emerge. Dean and Frank were salivating. They couldn't wait to rub it in.

Finally, out they came: Sam, little Peter, Carolyn, and Mike. A round of applause went up among the family members, who had all been waiting at the exit point.

"Geez, it's about time," Frank said to Sam. "We were just about to send in one of those Saint Bernards, with the keg on the collar."

"If we sent one of those after YOU, we'd never see you again," Mike quipped.

Frank was silent for a moment, and then he started to smile. "Not bad. For a loser, that is."

Mike and Carolyn were holding hands, and they smiled at each other. "It was nice and quiet in there," Carolyn said, and Peter exclaimed, "Mom and Mike were smooching! Me and Uncle Sam had to go back and find them!"

"Aww, geez. That's all we need, another Cas and Gail," Dean said, rolling his eyes.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Gail said, grinning. She handed out the trophies, which were marked "Junior Hunter". Then, she nudged Carolyn. "Hey, if I'd known you were going to be doing something so worthwhile, I might have upgraded your trophies," Gail teased the woman.

Cas took Gail's hand, then put his arms around her. "We should have a kissing competition, sometime," he said, kissing his wife on the lips.

"We'd win, every time," she said, kissing him back.

"Now we know what to do, the next time we want to get rid of them for about a week," Dean wisecracked.

"OK, it's time to get going," Bobby told everyone, taking charge. "We've still got trick-or-treating, and those haunted whatevers in Ottawa. Nicole has generously offered anyone who wants to, to stay at her house in Ottawa."

"You can stay as long as you want," Nicole said to the group. "For those of you who've never seen really beautiful fall colours before, we should go to Gatineau Park, tomorrow. You haven't seen anything until you've seen that." She was excited to have people over to the house. After a lot of deliberation, Nicole had decided to hire renovators to begin re-tooling the place to operate as a bed-and-breakfast type of establishment. It was a process, though, because that type of major overhaul cost money and took time, but she had decided to go ahead with it, nonetheless. The first thing she had arranged for to be re-done were the rooms on the second and third floor, so there was plenty of space for everyone. Nicole hadn't even seen the renovations herself, although she had been receiving e-mail updates and photos from the contractor.

Groups of Angels and humans moved discreetly away from the other maze-goers, and once they were out of sight, they began to disappear.

It was full dark in the Ottawa region when the group of them arrived at the Valley View Farm. The usual operations of the place had been suspended for the month before Hallowe'en, and everything was decorated elaborately for maximum spookiness. There were kids running around from place to place, screaming in glee as employees dressed in scary costumes jumped out at them from dark corners.

"Talk about corny," Dean said, rolling his eyes as they headed towards the main building. There was a map there that outlined the attractions. Nicole had suggested that they get a brochure, and then decide what they wanted to do first. The general consensus was that whatever they did, they would all do as a group. It would be a little too easy to lose track of one of the kids they had in their charge if they didn't all stick together.

"The hayride's not for a while," Sam stated, checking the pamphlet. "Why don't we go check out the haunted house?"

"Boy, is this gonna be lame," Dean said under his breath.

"It's for the kids," Gail reminded him. "Besides, we have to get the Expert Hunters to lead the way. Right, Angela?"

"Right!" her niece exclaimed. The little girl grabbed Frank's hand. "Come on, Daddy, you can come, too. Even though you only got second place."

"Ooooh! Burn!" Dean said, grinning from ear to ear. "On SECOND thought, this could be fun." He poked Frank. "See what I did there?"

Frank tried to ignore him, focusing on his daughter instead. "That's what's wrong with kids these days," Frank groused. "They just don't respect their parents anymore." Then he smiled, and he bent down to Angela, extending his hand. "Up top, kiddo."

Angela slapped her father's hand, laughing. Then she and the other kids ran in the direction of the haunted house, and the grownups had to hurry to catch up.

They entered the "house", which was actually a renovated barn. "Hey, this almost looks like it could be a real house," Gail commented, looking around.

"It almost looks like it could be MY house," Nicole said with a grin. She lowered her voice. "But at least my place isn't haunted any more, thanks to you guys."

"Look at these cheesy decorations," Frank said, brushing fake cobwebs away from his face.

"I know, right?" Dean agreed. "It's not even scary, here."

Suddenly, a guy burst out of the door right next to Dean. "BOO!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, brandishing a fake axe.

Dean screamed in a high-pitched voice, and the adults all laughed as the kids squealed with delight. "That was great!" George exclaimed. "Do it again!"

"Did anybody get a recording of that?" Sam asked, his shoulders shaking with laughter. "I want to use that for my new ringtone."

Dean was clutching at his chest, glaring at the employee. "Why would you DO that?" he berated the young man.

"Uhhh...it's my job, man," the would-be axe murderer said.

Dean walked away quickly, muttering something about giving people heart attacks, as Gail and Frank clutched at each other, laughing hysterically.

Cas was looking around in wonderment. It was strange, this human custom. An entire day, dedicated to the celebration of ghosts, monsters, and people, frightening other people. He'd had difficulty understanding the appeal of such a thing. Weren't those things the very antithesis of what would be considered desirable? He had asked Sam about the phenomenon shortly after having arrived on Earth, and the younger Winchester had looked thoughtful. Cas actually raised a good point. But it was Sam's theory that the concept of finding humour in scary things and situations might ultimately be a healthy thing for kids. It was the same kind of idea as screaming on a roller coaster, or peeking between your fingers at a scary movie, Sam theorized. A large part of the fear of anything was the fear of the unknown. Once you made a nodding acquaintance with the object of your fear, it became a little more easy to deal with it. Cas hadn't really thought of it that way before, and he acknowledged the logic behind what Sam had said. But Castiel still found it odd, himself, and he guessed he always would.

Oh, well. The kids seemed to be having quite a bit of fun anyway, and the adults had had some too, at Dean's expense. Some of them were still having it, in fact.

"I wonder if we're gonna have some more scary monsters attacking us, on that hayride," Frank said, tapping Peter on the opposite shoulder. The boy's head whipped around wildly, looking for the source of the contact.

"Based on what we've seen here, I think that statement is axiomatic," Sam said with a grin.

"Oh, well, if the monster's got an axe, we'll have to get the Expert Hunter on the case," Frank said gleefully. "Maybe, if Dean screams loud enough, he'll scare the guy into dropping his axe."

The two of them laughed, and Dean frowned. "I'm gonna get you guys," he fumed. "Somehow, somewhere, sometime...I'm gonna get you."

"Look at me; I'm shaking," Frank said sarcastically.

Once the group had gone through the house, they made their way over to where staff members were loading people onto the flatbed truck for the haunted hayride. They all piled in, then listened as their guide, a young man who was dressed as a scarecrow, began to tell them a tale:

"It's a great night for a hayride," Adam said, looking at them all. There were a few dozen kids, easily, most of whom were looking up at him with wide eyes. "But, beware...there are ghosts and ghouls and monsters rampaging, out there. And the scariest one of them all is the man who used to own this place. His name was Harry, and he was a mean old man, who hated Hallowe'en, and candy, and kids. Every Hallowe'en, he would close the gates and put up a sign that said, 'NO TRESPASSING'. Then, he would get on his tractor and go out and plough the fields. This went on for a few years, and then one Hallowe'en night, he drove his tractor into a tree."

"Too much moonshine, probably," Dean wisecracked in a soft voice.

"You know what they say" 'Don't drink and tractor'," Sam added.

"Harry was angry," Adam continued, "so he went into the barn and got his chainsaw, and he marched up to that tree and cut it right down to the ground. But when he was done, he forgot to turn the chainsaw off. He was standing back, waiting for the tree to fall, but it was Harry who fell, instead. He tripped over the tree's roots, and fell onto his chainsaw."

"Ooooh, that's gotta hurt," Frank said, smirking.

"After Harry died, his brother opened up the farm every year on Hallowe'en, and that's how we're able to be here, today. But Harry is out there somewhere, and he's angry. He's been spotted by some of the local people recently, roaming the woods with his chainsaw in his hands. If you see him or hear his chainsaw, scream as loud as you can, and maybe he'll go away."

"Yeah, 'cause that always works," Bobby said, rolling his eyes.

"You're right, Sir," Adam said earnestly, looking at Bobby. This was in the script, of course. There was always one smartass adult who said that. It set him up beautifully. "It didn't work for me," Adam went on. He shook his shoulder, and his prosthetic arm fell to the trunk bed with a dull "thunk". Then he squeezed the bag inside his shirt, squirting fake blood from the hole in the armpit of his shirt.

The kids screamed, and Adam shouted, "No, no! I warned you not to scream! Now, he'll know where we are!"

"You said we SHOULD scream," Rob pointed out quite logically, but Adam was fully in character now. "Let's go!" the young man shouted to the driver of the truck. "Maybe we can outrun him!"

The truck's engine started up, and the vehicle began to move, as slow as molasses. "Go faster!" Adam yelled.

"I can't!" the driver shouted back, playing his own part. "I think Chainsaw Harry tampered with the engine!"

"Mike, do you wanna go down there and help those guys out?" Sam said to Carolyn's boyfriend, and the men laughed.

The truck took off with a jerk, and then they were driving slowly into the woods. "Woooo-oooo!" they heard, and a couple of spectral figues lowered themselves from tree branches. Dean and Frank exchanged glances, rolling their eyes. Really? They could see the wires from here.

But some of the kids were on edge from Adam's story, and the employee played his part well, winding them up further by telling them that they were approaching the spot where Chainsaw Harry was last seen. "Keep your eyes open," he warned them. "Listen for the sounds of the chainsaw."

The truck slowed down, and suddenly, a young couple ran out from the woods. "He's coming!" the girl screamed. "Chainsaw Harry! He's coming! He cut off our friend's hand!"

The driver slammed on the brakes, also as per the script. "Why are you stopping?" the young man who'd run out of the woods exclaimed. "He's coming!"

"They don't pay me enough for this," the driver said loudly. He exited the truck, running off in the other direction.

"Oh, no!" Adam exclaimed. "What are we going to do now? I can't drive! I've only got one arm!"

Frank, Sam and Dean burst out laughing. They couldn't help it. This was just too cheesy to be scary.

But some of the kids were agitated. "I'm scared, Daddy," Ilene said in a small voice. She climbed onto Barry's lap, and put her arms around his neck.

"It's OK," Barry told her, kissing his daughter on the forehead. "It's only pretend, like the movies."

And that was when the man stumbled out of the woods, screaming. He tottered forward a few steps and then fell face-first onto the ground, blood spurting from his arm, which was severed at the elbow.

Adam jumped up, swearing viciously. The young couple who had come out of the woods looked at each other, and then the girl screamed too, clutching at her companion.

"That's not part of the show!" the young man exclaimed. He grabbed the girl by the hand, pulling her towards the truck.

The men exchanged glances again, uncertain. Was the fact that they were saying this wasn't part of the show...part of the show? Didn't they just say that Chainsaw Harry had cut off their friend's hand?

Sam's jaw dropped. Yeah..."hand", they'd said. But this guy's arm was severed at the elbow, and he wasn't getting up. Adam was still shouting, and the young couple raced over to the cab of the truck, looking utterly panicked. The guy was trying to start the truck, but its engine was stalled.

"I don't think they're acting, you guys," Sam said, looking at Dean and Frank.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Come on, Sammy. Nice try," he said.

"We're NOT acting!" Adam exclaimed, trembling. "I've never seen that guy before in my life!" He gestured to the young man who was lying in the dirt, still motionless. "One of OUR guys was supposed to come staggering out of the woods with a fake injury, like mine!" He took his other arm out of the shirt he was wearing. "Then, 'Chainsaw Harry' was supposed to come out and wave the chainsaw around a few times, and we were all supposed to scream and pretend to be scared, and then Gus the driver was gonna take off, like he did. Then, just in the nick of time, a man dressed like a superhero was supposed to appear out of the woods, jump in the truck, and drive us all to safety. Superman, or Iron Man, or somebody. Then, we were supposed to have Deadpool run in front of the truck, cracking PG jokes, and then Wonder Woman was gonna show up with Chainsaw Harry tied up in her golden lasso, to show all the kids that they were safe. He was going to confess, and the Justice League were going to take him to jail."

"That sounds awesome," Dean said with a smirk. He still thought this was all an elaborate put-on.

So did Frank. "Why would you put a ghost in jail?" he asked Adam dryly.

But Sam and Rob were looking at each other, and they were shaking their heads. "Dad, he's not kidding," Rob said in a shaky voice. "There's something out there, in the woods."

Now, Rob's dad started to pay attention. Not only was his kid a Hunter in his own right, but he was psychic, too. And Sam had that look on his face, the one that all Hunters recognized.

Dean and Bobby saw that look now, and they took charge. "OK, let's go," Bobby said. "I'll take us all back to the main building. Cas and Gail can take care of business there, and I'll take the Hunters back home, to get some supplies."

And just like that, Bobby waved his arms, and everyone in the truck disappeared.

They all reappeared back in the main building on the farm grounds. The kids and adults who weren't part of the Hunters' group were disoriented, to say the least, and understandably so. But Bobby didn't want to take any chances, so he raised his voice: "All right, everybody: Listen up. We're officially on lockdown, here. Until we find out what's going on out there, everybody stays put. No exceptions."

"Who put YOU in charge?" one of the fathers said angrily. His son and daughter were terrified, hanging onto his legs for dear life. As so often happens in these cases, he was afraid too, and confused. Was there a danger to his kids, or not? His ex-wife was gonna kill him if anything happened to their kids. She had been against this excursion, saying that the children were too young and too sensitive to be exposed to the kind of scary stuff that the farm featured. He'd told her she was being overprotective, they were his kids too, and that was that. Aww, geez. Now what?

"I'M putting me in charge," Bobby said sternly. "My group and I are part of a Special Elite Forces branch of the government, and we know what we're doing. If you want your kids to be safe, you'll listen to us." He gave Cas and Gail a look. What the hell, God said over Angel Radio. They'd have to modify everybody's memories after this was all over, anyway. Might as well tell a few whoppers now.

"We'd better call in some reinforcements," Cas said crisply. "We will have to round up everyone who is on the grounds, and in the haunted house. Then, we will deploy everyone for transport, after the adjustments are made."

Bobby did a double-take. Cas was now Castiel, General of Heaven's Army, taking charge of the operations here. But that was just fine with Bobby. He had Hunters to transport, and a monster to kill. Truth be told, Bobby was more comfortable on that side of the equasion, anyway.

Still, God's beard twitched. "Carry on, General; Mrs. General." He snapped off a salute to Cas and Gail, then moved over to where the Hunters stood, grouped together.

"Any idea what we're looking at, boys?" Bobby asked the men.

"Wendigo," Rob said promptly, and the others looked at him, startled.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked the young man.

"I saw it," Rob replied, nodding emphatically. "Humanoid, tall and pale, elongated limbs...that's a Wendigo, right? A cannibal?"

"Yeah," Bobby said, impressed. "OK; that's good enough for me." He looked at Dean. "You still have those flame-throwers at the bunker?" His beard twitched again. He couldn't seem to help himself. This beat pushing a pen and paper around a desk, anytime. "I've always wanted to use one of those things."

"Well, let's get going, then," Frank urged. He was excited about that, too.

"Hold up," Dean said. He looked at Rob. "Wendigo, huh? You sure?"

"Yeah, Uncle Dean."

Dean was frowning. "Bobby, can you take Frank and Rob to the bunker and get the flame-throwers? Me and Sam are gonna draw the Anasazi symbols outside this place, just in case."

Bobby could have smacked himself on the head. "That's good thinking, Son. I forgot all about those. I've been spending too much time in Heaven, riding a desk. Good deal; we'll meet you back here in a couple of minutes."

Bobby, Frank and Rob left the building, so they could disappear discreetly. Not that it really mattered, he supposed; all the humans here who hadn't been in their little group would have to have their memories completely modified, anyway. Bobby had zapped them all over here from the woods, and soon, Cas and Gail and whatever Angels they'd decided to deputize would be popping people all over the place. What a balls-up. But there were a boatload of kids here, and keeping them safe was the priority right now. Cas and Gail knew what they were doing.

"Hey, Buddy," Dean said to Adam, who was standing in the middle of all the activity, looking shell-shocked. "Buddy. Pal," Dean tried again, waving his hand in front of Adam's face.

"Adam," the young man said, dazed. He looked at the Winchesters. "What's going on, here? What's happening?"

"What's happening is that we have a...situation," Dean told him. "There's a really bad monster out there who likes to snack on people, and we've gotta make sure he doesn't throw back a few of these kids for appetizers. I saw some kids drawing pictures in chalk outside, when we first got here. I'm gonna need you to get me and my brother here some of that chalk. We're going to draw some symbols on the walls outside this building that'll keep the monster out. Then, you can help our friends over there - " he pointed at Cas and Gail, who were giving instructions to a couple of dozen newly-arrived Angels " - with the kids and their parents. The tall guy dressed like Tarzan is Cas, and the short one dressed like Jane is Gail, his wife. Do what they tell you, and we'll all come out of this OK."

"Okay. OK," Adam said, nodding. He still looked stunned, but he started to walk towards the supply room. "I'll get you that chalk."

Meanwhile, Cas and Gail were coordinating the new arrivals. Gabriel told them he would take their human friends back to Nicole's place, and Henri, Milo and Nanette would stay with them, there. Then Gabe would come back and help the rest of the Angels grab everybody from the grounds and outbuildings on the farm, bring them back here, find out where they lived, modify their memories, and take them home. Then, there were their cars to think about, too. Gabriel was the only one besides Bobby who had the ability to move people and things en masse, so he'd told Cas he would take the lion's share of the transportation, if they would coordinate the modifications.

Some of the young employees came over to where Adam, Sam and Dean were, asking how they could help. Should they go out to the grounds and round up some of the customers? "No!" Sam exclaimed. "Our friends will get them. Nobody can leave this building. Don't worry, we've got it covered. My brother and I are going to draw some symbols on the building, and then we're going to meet up with a few other guys and go kill that monster."

"I have a gun," one of the girls said to the Winchesters. "I could go get it, if you want."

They looked at her, doing a double-take. "Uh...no. It's OK. We've got this," Dean told her. Sheesh. Canadians, with guns? Since when?

On cue, Nicole came rushing over. "Gabriel's taking us to my place," she informed her boyfriend. "I know you guys have to do your thing. I just wanted to give you this." She threw her arms around Dean's neck and kissed him. "Be safe, and I'll see you back at my house."

Then she walked back over to where Gabriel was waiting, and a moment later, their group disappeared.

Dean grinned. That was why he loved Nicole. No muss, no fuss, no melodrama. He'd definitely see her back at her house later. Hopefully, she had a room that was far enough away from any kids who might be staying there. If not, maybe they could just pass off Nicole's cries of happiness as Hallowe'en screams coming from outside, or something.

The young employees had drifted over to where Adam was now, helping Cas and Gail with the guests. The numbers were growing. Paul, Linda, Ethan, Karen and Laurel were popping in and out rounding up parents and kids, along with a dozen other Angels as backup. Speed was of the essence. That Wendigo could be out there anywhere, and they had no idea how many people were running around loose.

Gail stopped short from rushing over to where Gabriel was, herding another group to get ready to transport them to their homes. She was going to help him read the minds of the parents, to find out where they lived, before modifying their memories to erase this entire incident. But she'd just had an idea, so she called out to him, telling him to hold off on sending anyone. She'd be right there. Then she did an about-face, hurrying over to Adam.

"Can we get a total of how many people should be here, right now?" she asked the young employee. "I think, before we start sending them home, we should get a head count, so we can tell if we're getting everyone."

He looked at her curiously. So far, Adam had been rolling with things pretty well, considering how weird everything had gotten; and how fast his night had changed from a routine night of fun, getting to entertain kids, to a real-life horror movie.

"Who ARE you guys?" Adam asked her, looking over at where Gabriel was. The Archangel was distracting the children in his group, who were becoming restless, by making jack-o'-lanterns float through the air. Cas was shaking his head, but he said nothing, presumably because he knew that none of the guests would remember what they were seeing right now, once they'd arrived home. But in the meantime, at least they were calm, and staying inside the building.

Gail realized the same thing, so she looked at Adam and said, "We're Angels, sent here to protect all of you. But, I need your help. How can we get that info?"

He thought for a second. "We can check the computer, and see how many tickets were scanned tonight. Then we'll see how many of those were tapped at the exit gates."

Gail nodded. She had been wondering why, when they'd first arrived, they had been told to hang onto their tickets, and tap them at the electronic gates at the farm's exit when they were ready to leave. But now, she realized it made perfect sense. The venue was open, comprised of a lot of ground, and it was night-time.

"Excellent!" Gail exclaimed, impressed. She looked around. "Where's the computer?"

"Uhhh...it's in the main admin building," Adam said, making a face. "That's about half a mile up the hill, past the haunted house."

"No problem," she said. "I can zap us over there, right now."

Adam was still frowning. "And, strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to be able to get into the system. If we do this, can you do me a favour and not tell anybody I can do that? I could get fired."

"Really?" Gail remarked, surprised. "I thought that being able to use the computer at your workplace was pretty standard, nowadays."

"Not when you use it to look up a girl's personal information," the young man said sheepishly. Gail raised an eyebrow, and he went on, "But I'm not a stalker, I swear. It was just the one time. There was a girl here a couple of weeks ago, and I just couldn't get her out of my mind after she left. She was so cute, and she had the nicest smile. I flirted with her a bit, and I thought she was flirting back. But before I got the chance to find out if she liked me, she had to take her nephew home. He ate too much candy, and puked all over the place. So I thought, well, so much for that. But I couldn't let it go. I just had to see her again." He smiled charmingly. "I hope you won't hold that against me. If it makes it any better, she's my girlfriend, now."

Gail couldn't help but smile. She didn't hold it against him. How could she? She thought it was romantic. She glanced at Cas, who was busy explaining what was going on to the parents of the families that were still arriving with their Angel escorts. Boy, did she love him. Then she turned her attention back to Adam. Adam. Wasn't THAT a coincidence? Imagine if Gail were to tell this young guy that the original Adam, of Adam and Eve fame, was technically her father-in-law. For a moment, she was sorely tempted, just so she could see the look on his face. It was kind of a drag, having such a neat thing to tell people, and not being allowed to tell anyone. They were going to have to modify Adam's memory anyway, she thought with faint humour.

But of course, she simply said, "If you'll take my hand, I'll pop you over there. And don't worry; I won't tell anybody about your secret. Not even God," she couldn't resist adding, and the look that she saw on his face then would have to suffice.

"Do you remember your lore?" Sam was asking Rob. The five of them were walking cautiously through the woods, armed with the flame-throwers they'd retrieved from the storeroom in the bunker. Things were quiet right now, so Sam thought this would be a good opportunity to find out how much Rob knew about this particular monster. The Wendigo wasn't your common, garden-variety type of creature.

"Yeah, I think so," Rob replied. "Wendigos are cannibals. They hibernate, and they store live food in preparation for the winter, so we're probably looking for an abandoned building, deep in the woods."

"Look," Bobby said. He shone his flashlight on the path. "Blood trail."

They continued down the path, walking more quietly now. A few minutes later, they saw the outline of a building.

"Yahtzee," Dean said softly.

The men turned off their flashlights as they approached the structure. The moon provided enough illumination for them to make out the door to the barn, which was slightly ajar.

Sam and Dean moved to either side of the door and Bobby gave the men a curt nod. Frank and Rob hung back. The Winchesters and Bobby had a long history of Hunting as a team. They clearly had a system worked out.

Bobby stood in front of the door on purpose; all of the men he was Hunting with were human. If anything came barreling out of there, he wanted it to go straight for him. He should be able to blast the thing into next week. But there could be more than one, too, so they had to use caution.

Dean eased the door open with one hand, and then he slipped through. Sam followed, and then the other men, behind him.

The interior of the barn was dark, so they had no choice but to switch their flashlights back on. As they moved closer to the centre of the room, Frank swore softly. They could see the outlines of bodies, hanging from the rafters.

Bobby's wind was up. He was God; he should be able to sense immediately if there were any monsters nearby. But, nothing. Nada. Why?

For the moment, though, the men had to see if any of the victims were salvageable. Since Sam had the longest arms out of any of them, he climbed the ladder by the hayloft and started cutting down the nearest victims, and the men caught the people as they fell. Then, when he could no longer reach, Sam climbed down and Bobby sent salvos up to the ropes that suspended the other victims. The white light produced was very bright, so it was a last resort. If there was anyone, or anything, nearby, they would be alerted to the mens' presence immediately.

Silence. No noise, no movement. They moved quickly to check the victims. There were about a dozen, and the Hunters were glad to see that they were all still alive, though some injuries were worse than others. Lucky the Wendigo preferred their entrees to be alive and warm, Bobby thought with dark humour.

He called Cas on Angel Radio, and their friend appeared a moment later. "How's it going, over there?" God asked his right-hand Angel.

"Well," Cas said succinctly. He was already kneeling beside the nearest victim, healing the man's injuries.

"Ain't you just the chatterbox?" Bobby said dryly, moving on to the next victim.

Cas smiled thinly. "I'm sorry, Bobby. I was still in soldier mode, as the expression goes. The modifications and evacuations are just about complete."

"Are you sure you guys got everybody?" Frank said, frowning. "How do we know there aren't some kids still wandering around out there in the dark?"

"Your sister had the same thought," Cas told him calmly. "She had a wonderful idea. She had that young man from the hayride, Adam, take her over to the administrative office, where they used the computer to find out how many attendees there were, tonight. We counted heads, before we sent them all home. The guests were all present and accounted for. By the time we get back there, the operation will be complete."

Frank nodded. "Good deal. Don't tell her I said so, but that sister of mine is one smart cookie."

"I didn't know that snacks could be intelligent," Cas said, moving on to the next victim. "But, in any event, I must take credit for being smart as well, then."

"Yeah?" Bobby inquired as he helped the woman he had just healed get to her feet. "Why's that?"

"Because I was smart enough to ask Gail to marry me," Cas stated, with a little smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

"Maybe not smart, so much as lucky," Dean chipped in, grinning.

As the Angels continued to heal the victims, the people they had saved started asking the inevitable questions: Who were these men? What was going on? What did they remember? the men countered with.

"I don't know about anyone else, but I don't remember anything except for being grabbed from behind, outside the haunted house," a girl named Patty said, looking dazedly at the others. "The next thing I knew, I was here, and some weird-looking guy with freakishly long arms and legs was taking a bite out of me! Then he strung me up, and took off."

The consensus was the same among the others. But another victim named Melissa was the one to say what they were all thinking: "That guy - or whatever he was - chewed up half my torso." She looked at Bobby. "But you just moved your hands over me, and now, I'm fine! Not that I'm complaining, but how can that be?"

Bobby and Cas exchanged glances, and then Bobby asked his lieutenant, "Is everybody from Heaven still back at the main building?"

"Yes, I believe so. We requested them all to stay, to await your instructions," Cas replied.

"Good," Bobby said, nodding. He looked around at all of the people they had saved. Their memories would have to be modified too, and then the Angels could send them home, as well.

"Look out! There he is!" Patty screamed.

The Wendigo came rushing into the barn, taking them all by surprise. It grabbed Rob. "NO!" Frank shouted, and he moved forward. "Take me, instead! I've got way more meat on my bones than HE does! Look at the Dad-bod on me. I mean, this beer belly alone should be enough to last you all winter long. Even if it is a Canadian winter."

As Bobby waved his hands and sent the people they had just rescued back to the main building at the farm, Cas popped over to where the Wendigo was holding Rob, and slashed Its throat. The monster clutched at the bleeding wound with both hands, unwittingly letting go of Rob in the process. Frank's son ran towards his father, and Frank pushed Rob behind him. "Get out of the way, Cas!" he shouted. "It's barbecue season!"

Cas winked back beside his brother-in-law, and Frank triggered his flame-thrower. The other Hunters unleashed the fire from theirs too, and the Wendigo was burned to a crisp. But the flames spread, and the barn started to go up.

Bobby waved his hands, and they were all standing outside. Then he waved his hands again, and the fire was out.

The men stood there for a moment, and the humans among them were relieved. Wow. That had been close, for a moment.

Dean elbowed Frank. "Way to go, 'Dad-bod'."

"That was pretty funny, Dad," Rob said, grinning. He put his arm around Frank, hugging him. "Thanks."

Frank hugged his son to him, looking at Cas. "It's your Uncle Cas you should thank. He gave that Thing a tracheotomy, at just the right time."

"I knew it wouldn't kill him, of course, but it did distract him long enough to let go of you," Cas stated.

Sam was looking at Bobby. "I'm curious, though. Couldn't you have just obliterated it with that white light of yours?"

"You know what? That's a good question," Dean said, nodding in agreement. "Why couldn't you just have smited? smote? that freakin' thing, in the first place?"

"That IS a good question," Bobby mused aloud. "And, guess what? That thing was a former resident of Purgatory. Remember all those monsters we ran into, when we were in Romania? I'm pretty sure that one was a leftover. Once they've crossed over into another realm, I have no dominion over them, any more."

"'Dominion'? What the hell are you talking about?" Frank asked him, confused.

"Hey, don't look at me. I don't make the rules," Bobby said, frowning. "All I know is, we'd better hope that thing was just a stray, or we might have a bigger problem, here."

The others looked at him apprehensively. Great. That would be all they needed.

Cas and Bobby winked them all back to the main building on the farm. Only Gail and Gabriel were left there, now. They had dismissed all of the other Angels. There wasn't much point in keeping anyone here, they had reasoned. All of the humans, including those who Bobby had sent from the Wendigo's lair, had been modified and sent home.

Gabe had been telling Gail stories about some historical events that had taken place in October, just to pass the time. He'd gotten all the way back to the fall of Jerusalem when the men appeared. "Oh, look. Here are the Apostles, now," Gabriel quipped.

Gail rushed over to the guys, happy to see that everyone was okay. "Did you get It?" she asked them, putting her arms around Cas.

"Yeah, that Wendigo is a crispy critter now," Dean confirmed.

"Did everything go all right here?" Bobby asked the Angels.

"Just fine, Boss Man," Gabriel said. "Everybody's back home, snug as a bug, and none the wiser."

"Good job," Bobby said. "Thanks, everyone. I'll have to thank the others too, when I get back."

"Nicole said we should go to her place, once we finished up here," Gail said to the men.

"I think I'll pass," Bobby said wearily. "Thank her for me, though."

"Yeah, me too," Gabriel added.

"Thanks for all your help, Brother," Cas said, clapping Gabriel on the shoulder.

"De nada," Gabe said, shrugging. "It's good to feel like a good guy."

"You ARE a good guy," Gail said to the Archangel. "And you're one hell of a partner, too. You and I and Cas should team up. We could be like the next Mod Squad, or something."

"Only it would be the God Squad, wouldn't it?" Rob said, puzzled.

Bobby let out a breath. "Google it," he said, rolling his eyes. But then he slung an arm around the young man, hugging him. "Glad you're OK, boy."

"Thanks, Gramps," Rob said with a smile. "I guess I need a bit more training, though," he added, his smile fading. "If it hadn't been for you guys, I would've been a Wendigo happy meal."

Frank laughed. "Not bad, kiddo. Not bad at all."

"Actually, I think it was your Dad's beer belly that saved you," Sam piped up. "One look at that, and the Wendigo decided to hold out for the jackpot."

Frank made a face at the younger Winchester. "Oh, har, har. Just because some people are about seventeen feet tall, and their weight is better distributed..."

"Time to go," Gabriel said quickly. This was getting a little ridiculous, now. Still, he was pleased with their efforts tonight. He'd never seen humans and Angels work together so seamlessly before. Hopefully, the trend could continue, in the future. "'Bye, everybody. See you soon, Cas. My Kitten," he added, giving Gail a wink. He disappeared, and then Bobby said his goodbyes and vanished as well.

"Let's go see if Nicole's got that coffee on," Dean said, and Cas and Gail moved over to where their human family stood. They winked them all away from the farm.


	10. There's A Ghost In My House

Chapter 9 - There's A Ghost In My House

Frank, Gail, Cas, Sam, Nicole and Dean were all sitting around in the living room area of Nicole's house, having a drink and decompressing at the end of their hectic day. Barry, Carolyn, Mike and Rob were all upstairs, with the kids. Peter and Ilene had been upset about the monster scare, and they had each told their respective parents they were afraid to sleep alone. Barry had magnanimously agreed to take both of them in his room, so that Carolyn and Mike could spend the night alone together. Carolyn had smiled gratefully at her brother-in-law. They didn't often get a chance to be alone for a night, without one kid or the other interrupting their attempts at romance. And tonight, Ilene and Peter would need some extra TLC after the real-life fright they'd had.

Angela seemed a lot more pragmatic about the whole thing, but Frank supposed that was to be expected. She was older than Ilene and more mature than Peter, and she came from a family of Hunters. Besides, her father had said with a heavy dose of sarcasm, when a kid's homework included pointers on how not to get shot in Math class, fear of actual, monster-y monsters was probably no big deal, any more.

But Rob had elected to stay with his little sister, because he knew that sometimes, these kinds of things had a way of coming back on you. He himself was still pretty freaked out about having been grabbed by that Wendigo. It had all happened so fast. He was more embarrassed than anything else. Psychic or not, Rob sure hadn't seen THAT coming. It was good to know that his Dad and the other guys had his back, but now that Rob didn't have his brother Eric with him as a backup any more, maybe he'd better ask his father and his uncles for some more training.

Meanwhile, the group of six who were socializing in the living room were having a laugh at Frank's expense. Sam and Dean had gleefully reported what Gail's brother had said to the Wendigo, and Gail and Nicole were laughing about it now.

"Oh, how I wish I had a recording of that," Gail said, shaking her head.

"Hey, maybe you guys should put out a cookbook for monsters," Nicole joked. She was on her third drink already, and she was definitely feeling the effects. She was just so relieved that everyone was okay. Even the guy who had stumbled out of the woods with part of his arm missing was alive. Gabriel had popped over to the general area where those who had been on the hayride had seen him, and the Archangel had scooped up the young man and taken him to Mercy Hospital in Ottawa. He would, unfortunately, have to go through life missing half an arm, but otherwise, he would be fine.

All six of them were in very high spirits. It was great to have had a case involving a giant, scary cannibal where the monster had been killed so easily, and nobody had died.

Cas and Gail were snuggling together in one corner of the big, plush couch that faced the fireplace. Cas kissed his wife tenderly on the forehead. He had been so impressed with the way she had coordinated the other Angels, and by her idea about how to obtain the numbers of the customers they were looking to match, to make sure they had gotten everyone. She was the only one of them who had thought of that. He hated to think of what might have happened had a child been left behind.

Cas told her what he was thinking now, and Dean smirked. "Of course she was good at that," the elder Winchester remarked. "She loves bossing people around."

Before Gail could work out a suitable retort, a book fell to the floor from the bookshelf unit on the opposite side of the room, startling them all.

"What the hell?!" Nicole exclaimed. She scrambled to her feet and rushed across the room, picking the book up from where it had fallen. "Whoops, I guess I'd better rephrase that," she added sheepishly, showing them the cover of the book. "Holy Bible" was embossed there, in gold.

"Look; Cas's biography is flying off the shelves," Sam quipped, and Frank extended his hand for a high-five.

But Nicole's forehead was wrinkled. How had the Bible fallen from its place among the other books? Had there been a tremor, maybe? The Ottawa region had the occasional earthquake, although to her knowledge, they were never that big of a deal here. She looked up at the empty slot where the book had fallen from. If there had been a tremor that powerful, wouldn't the other books have been dislodged, as well?

"Geez, Cas, I was only teasing Gail, you know," Dean wisecracked. "There was no need to get all Biblical about it."

"That wasn't me, Dean," Cas said earnestly, and Gail shook her head. "Me, either," she stated, and then she couldn't resist adding, "If that'd been me, it would have knocked you in the head."

"Is that your family Bible?" Frank asked Nicole. "My neighbour used to have one of those. She had, like, generations of family members in there, going back to the 16th Century. It was pretty cool, actually."

Nicole was intrigued. Now, she wondered. Truthfully, she hadn't really looked that closely at it. She wasn't particularly religious, despite some of the company she kept, she thought with a grin. Besides, weren't all Bibles pretty much the same?

She brought the book over to where she had been sitting, beside Dean. There was a silk bookmark near the front, and Nicole opened it there. "It must be," she mused aloud. "Here's my grandfather's name. He was Evgenyi Dmitri Hasemov."

"That's a mouthful," Frank stated, smirking. "So, how do you get 'Baxter' from that?"

Nicole looked up from the book with a smile. "I changed my name when I got the job on the TV show. You think THAT'S a mouthful? You should try my grandmother's last name: Buxhoveden. I'm pretty sure my mother married young just so she could have a last name you could actually pronounce." She looked down at the Bible again. It was open on her lap. Suddenly, the pages riffled, and the book fell open to the overleaf, where there was another name embossed in gold: ROMANOV.

Nicole looked at that, puzzled. "Maybe it's NOT my family Bible, after all," she said, showing the others. "I don't know who 'Romanov' would be."

"Isn't that a kind of noodles?" Dean joked, but Frank frowned. "Uhhh...since when do books take themselves off bookshelves and turn their own pages?" he asked aloud.

"Umm, I can see your breath," Sam said to Gail's brother. He looked at Nicole. "Do you have any salt in the kitchen?"

"Oh, man, not this again!" Nicole groaned. "I thought you guys got rid of my ghost!"

"We did," Dean said, frowning. He and Frank rushed towards the kitchen to get the salt, while Sam said, "Cas..."

Cas was already on alert. He stood, looking at Gail and Nicole. "I'm taking Sam to the bunker to get some weapons," Gail's husband said, and the two men vanished.

Nicole looked at Gail, wide-eyed. Then she put the Bible on the coffee table. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure she wanted it on her lap, any more. The room was getting colder now.

As Frank and Dean hurried back into the room with one lone box of salt between them, Angela came down the stairs and entered the living room from the door on the opposite side of the room.

"What are you doing up?" Frank asked his daughter. Geez. Talk about bad timing.

"Rob's snoring, and there's a lady in our room," Angela replied matter-of-factly. "She says her name is Tatiana, and she's Nicole's grandma."

Now, Nicole was really confused. "My grandmother's name was Victoria," she said, glancing over at Dean, who was pouring salt on the floor at the opposite end of the room.

Angela looked behind her. "She's coming!" the little girl exclaimed. She rushed over to her father. Frank gathered Angela up in his arms as Sam and Cas reappeared, carrying guns loaded with rock salt.

The ghost of a woman materialized at the other end of the room. "Nicole," she said, smiling warmly. "My granddaughter."

Nicole's jaw dropped. "OK, what the hell?! Seriously! What kind of stupid-ass practical joke is this?" she exclaimed angrily.

The ghost was a corporeal manifestation of a young woman in her early 20s. Grandmother, Nicole's ass. The spirit glided smoothly into the room. "There is no need for weapons," she said calmly. "I don't mean anyone any harm. I just wanted to speak to my granddaughter."

"My grandmother's name was Victoria, and she was much older than you when she died," Nicole said in a trembling voice. Dean went to her side, handing the box of salt to Sam on his way by. He put his arm around Nicole's shoulders.

"No, child. You were TOLD that it was she who was your grandmother," the spectre said softly. "Let me tell all of you my story."

This was the most surreal experience Nicole had ever had, she thought, and she had hung out with God, teleported with Angels, and been possessed by an ancient entity with a doggy face and razor-sharp claws, so that was really saying something.

Frank had taken Angela upstairs again, with a stern warning to stay there with her brother. As a seasoned Hunter, he didn't sense any malevolence coming from the spirit who claimed she was Nicole's grandmother, but he wasn't taking any chances.

As he came back downstairs, the ghost sighed, and then she began: "My father was Tsar Nicholas, and I am Tatiana Romanov. Most of you are probably familiar with the tragedy that befell our family in the year 1918, but in case you are not, I will tell you what happened.

"I was 21 years old, when the soldiers came to round us up," Tatiana continued matter-of-factly. "I found out many of the facts I will divulge to you now many years after the fact. The process lasted about twenty horrific minutes, and most accounts I have read have the final tally of bullets at 70, as well as the numerous bayonet stabbings that my mother and brother and sisters had to endure, along with our nurses and our governesses. I myself received a single gunshot to the head. In retrospect, I was the lucky one. I should have received more wounds, but my mother had sewn several pounds' worth of the family crown jewels into my clothing, and they served as protection from the bullets. My dear mother." Tatiana smiled sadly. "She was naive enough to think that we might all emerge from there alive."

Tatiana sighed again. "It was horrifying. One of my sisters cried out for mercy. I don't even know which one; we were all crying and begging at that moment. But, the executioners didn't care. They were told to kill us all. My sisters and I were screaming, trying to defend ourselves, but it was no use. They were shooting, and stabbing, and clubbing us..." She trailed off as the six of them looked at each other, sickened by her tale.

"They dumped us all in a shallow grave, and then, they proceeded to drink vodka and schnapps over us, celebrating what they had done," Tatiana went on, and now they could hear the bitterness in her voice. "Then, after a while, they threw a few shovelfuls of dirt on us, and then, they staggered off. My family were all dead. But, not me. Despite my very painful head wound, I was still alive. So I dug my way out of there, using my bare hands, and the bodies of my family as my stepladder."

"Oh my God," Nicole said in a hushed voice. Her face had gone white, and Dean took her hand.

"I found out later that the soldiers were reprimanded for doing such a poor job with the burial, so they returned," Tatiana said, continuing with her story. "I was far enough away by that time, barely hanging onto consciousness. But I kept on crawling through the woods, desperate to get away." She frowned. "The soldiers stripped my family naked and burned their bodies, but because the men were so drunk, and there were so many bodies piled on top of each other, they didn't notice that I was gone. There had been eleven of us there, in the execution chamber."

"That's unbelievable," Sam remarked, dazed. "It was always rumoured that one or the other of the Romanov family had escaped, but..."

"...Most of the legends said that it was my younger sister, Anastasia," Tatiana finished for him. "How I wish that some of them HAD survived. But I was the only one, and I was terrified. I crawled to the nearest village, and a very kind peasant family took me in. They had no idea who I was, of course. But I needed help, and I had no idea who I could trust at that point. So, I took a risk: I told them who I was, and I offered them every jewel I had concealed in my dress if they would take me to my mother's holy healer."

"Wait a minute," Nicole said, holding up a hand. "If you're Tatiana Romanov, my grandmother, then who's Victoria Buxhoveden?"

"She was my lady-in-waiting," Tatiana replied. "I took her name as my alias, so that no one would know that I had survived. She was one of the servants who was murdered in that basement room, along with my family. Her only crime was loving us too much." The ghost seemed to be on the verge of tears now. "It was rumoured that Victoria was actually my birth mother, not Tsarina Alexandra. I wish I knew for certain. But, it would not surprise me if that turned out to be true. My father Nicholas was the Tsar, at the time. The absolute ruler. In those days, servants were expected to obey any request made by a member of the Royal family, and Victoria would have been no exception. It's not too hard to imagine her having ended up in the family way. My young brother, Alexei, was a very sickly child, and my father desired an heir to the throne. If I was born to Victoria, I would not have qualified, being a female. But, as a servant, she would not have been allowed to keep the baby. My father probably took mercy on her and gave me to the Tsarina to claim as her own, allowing Victoria to stay and raise me."

The six of them stood there, astonished. Finally, Nicole let out a breath. "Wow," she said softly. "I never knew. I'm so sorry that happened to you. I'm so sorry that happened to all of you."

"The question is: Why?" Sam inquired in a subdued tone.

"Does it really matter?" Tatiana said quietly, but with a bit of an edge to her voice. "Politics. People hungry for power. It was rumoured that Lenin himself ordered the Bolshevik troops to execute the entire Royal family, so that he could then set up his own puppet government. But, what did I care about such things? I was just a young woman at the time, living my life. I nursed wounded soldiers and headed Red Cross committees during the Great War, right up until my family and I were arrested, following the Russian Revolution. I tried to help others. Even though I was the 'Grand Princess', I was just 'Tanushka', to my loved ones. I never wanted to be an elitist, one of the idle rich."

Nicole gave the ghost a thin smile. "You know what? I'm very honoured to be your granddaughter."

Gail piped up, now: "What happened to you, after you escaped? You said you asked those people to take you to your mother's holy healer. You don't mean..." She glanced at Sam.

"...Grigori Rasputin?" Sam finished.

Dean couldn't help himself. "Why is it that you two seem to know everything before the rest of us do?"

"It's called 'reading', Dean. You should try it, sometime," Sam said dryly.

Dean looked at Cas. "Do YOU know what's going on, here?" he asked his Angel friend. "You were probably there, at the time."

Cas merely frowned. He had been, of course, but this was not the time or the place for that conversation.

But Frank could always be counted on to lighten the mood. "Come on, Dean," he said, breaking into a grin. He started to dance. "'Rah-rah, Rasputin, lover of the Russian queen'," he sang, in an off-key voice. "Boney M? Come on!"

"I'm actually ashamed to even be seen with you, right now," Dean said, rolling his eyes.

Tatiana had been looking at all of them, frowning. "Yes, that's exactly who I'm talking about," she said in a serious tone. "I knew that, if anyone could help me, he could. When we were growing up, the reports of Rasputin were conflicting, even within my own family. Victoria had nothing but contempt for him, but she also said that she had witnessed his miracles first-hand, and she was baffled by his powers. The Empress Alexandra, the woman I believed to be my mother, believed whole-heartedly in Rasputin, as a healer and a holy man. So much so that she taught us all to love and revere him. But my lady-in-waiting and some of our nurses were upset because our mother allowed him to visit us in our nursery, while we were clad only in our nightgowns. But it was all very innocent, at least from our point of view.

"Then one of the nurses went to Alexandra, alleging that he had raped her. But the Empress was enraged, saying that she was trying to poison our minds against him, so she fired the woman. It was a good thing our father never found out about those particular allegations. But as it was, I now believe that the Empress and Rasputin were carrying on an affair. My father must have found out about it, because he ordered Rasputin to leave St. Petersburg, shortly after the trouble with the staff."

Gail muttered something about a double standard. Apparently, it was all right for Nicholas to fool around with a lady-in-waiting or two, but not for his wife to do the same? Not that any extramarital affair was exactly morally right, of course, but the sexism infuriated her, just the same.

Tatiana said nothing in response to Gail's remark, merely continued on with her story: "Despite his exile, our family's association with Rasputin continued, until his alleged death in 1916. He was a very complex and contradictory individual, but my sisters and I held a great deal of affection for the man. He was like a revered uncle to us, and for every report and rumour that he was a sinner, who engaged in debauchery and perversion, we also found him to be a profound person, with a lot of love to give. I kept a notebook, in which I recorded a few things he said that remained with me, throughout my life. He said, 'Love is Light, and it has no end. Love is great suffering. It cannot eat, it cannot sleep. It is mixed with Sin, in equal parts. And yet, it is better to love. All is in Love, and even a bullet cannot strike love down'."

"That's beautiful," Nicole remarked, smiling warmly. Gail was smiling, too. She agreed. That almost sounded like something that Cas would say. She'd read a fair amount of things about the notorious Rasputin, but most of the accounts had suggested that he was a controlling Svengali, with hypnotic eyes and a con man's patter, with no substance or sincerity. But hearing Tatiana speak about him like this made her wonder. Curious, Gail looked at Cas's face. Now, she was even more confused. He was tight-lipped, and his expression was grim. Was he simply reacting to the horrifying tale that Tatiana had told them about the massacre of her family, or did he know something they didn't?

"I fell in love with Evgenyi, your grandfather, in 1916," Tatiana told Nicole. "I nursed him back to health during the Great War, or, what you would call World War I. But then, he went back to the trenches, and I was sent to my death. I thought I would never see Evgenyi again. But in my case, at least, God was merciful. After Rasputin healed my gunshot wound, he modified my appearance, as well."

Cas's frown deepened then, and the others exchanged glances as Tatiana continued, "I changed my name to Victoria Buxhoveden and moved to Copenhagen, and then to London, England. And it was in London that I was reunited with your grandfather. He didn't recognize my face, but he courted me anyway, and I confessed my true identity to him on the morning of our wedding. I'd been afraid that he wouldn't want to marry me, because of who I had been. But he told me that it didn't matter to him; that he loved me, no matter who I was, or had been. He swore that he would keep my secret, always. And he did."

Nicole was open-mouthed. Wow. Did he ever. She'd had no idea. None. Her grandmother was a Romanov, a member of the Royal family. Nicole was descended from Russian royalty. Holy crap.

Sam was fascinated, but there were a few things that stood out to him from Tatiana's story, things that had gotten him to thinking. How had Rasputin "healed" a near-contact gunshot wound to Tatiana's head, and how had he "altered her appearance"? But, the biggest question of all was: "Wait. What did you mean, when you said that Rasputin's death in 1916 was 'alleged'?" Sam asked her, his brow furrowed.

"Just what I said," Tatiana replied. "Historical records state that he died in 1916, but those accounts are wrong. There is much more to the story. Rasputin lives, even to this day. He has unlocked the secrets of the universe. He has transcended the bonds of mortal existence."

"He has achieved immortality?" Cas said suddenly. His jaw was clenched. No. It couldn't be.

Tatiana's eyes widened. "Who are you?" she asked Castiel. But before he had the opportunity to answer, a cold wind swept through the room, and a fearful expression appeared on Tatiana's face. "I must go," she said, and she promptly disappeared.

Epilogue - Endgame

"After the New Years' celebration, we will escalate the programme," Benoit was telling his cabinet.

"With respect, Monsieur Levesque, are you certain that this is what must be done?" his chief Press Agent inquired.

Benoit glared at the man for a moment. He wasn't accustomed to having his instructions questioned. But then, he relented. Jean Hamelin was one of the premier "spin doctors" in the political arena, and the man had thus far been able to sell the French people on all of the increasingly restrictive programs their President had been instituting. Border closings, racial profiling, clamping down on immigration. Slowly but surely, his government was becoming a Fascist regime. And Benoit Levesque's approval ratings were through the roof.

"Oui. I am sure," France's President said earnestly. "It is the next logical step in cleansing our nation. The officials at Interpol have advised that, despite our successes in keeping the wrong sorts of people out of our country, a fair number of them are here, already. The only way we will all feel safe is if we are able to identify those people. The mark will be placed on their forearm, using a subdural applicator. That means it will only be visible under a special light. Those who dissent will be deported, immediately."

The cabinet members exchanged glances. Didn't that sound like...?

Jean sighed. He could see the unease on most of his colleagues' faces, but none of them would speak up, he was sure. Too afraid to jeopardize their positions. Fine. He would be the one, then. As usual.

"Monsieur President, aren't you concerned that this new policy will be viewed as...sounding like..." Jean swallowed, hard. "...Concentration camp tattoos?"

The room fell into a hush as Benoit's expression darkened. "No," he said firmly. "Those were branded onto peoples' skin, etched there for everyone to see. This mark will be invisible to the naked eye. Only government officials will be issued the special hand-held unit that will be able to detect the markings. That should keep the civil rights factions happy. Besides, terrorists don't HAVE any civil rights, in my country. If they don't like it, they are free to leave. It is for the benefit of everyone. If the people who are selected to receive the mark are honest, law-abiding, legal French citizens with nothing to hide, they should have nothing to be concerned about."

But Jean was troubled. Everything Benoit was saying had the ring of logic and sincerity to it. But the idea was disturbing, all the same. The Press Agent eyed the President carefully. How far was the leader of France prepared to go? How far was too far?

"All right, well, if no one has any further business to discuss, this meeting is hereby at a close," Benoit said briskly. "Enjoy the All Saints' festivities, everyone."

"What are you doing for the holiday, Monsieur?" Jean asked him.

"My lovely fiancee has flown in, to celebrate with Gerard and myself," the leader responded with a smile. "Soon, we will legally be a family, and I thought it would be nice for them to get to know each other a little better." His expression had softened, as it always did when he was talking about his loved ones. Jean felt a little better now, just for having seen that expression. Benoit Levesque genuinely cared about his own people, and if this was what he felt he had to do to help keep them safe, Jean supposed there would be no harm, really.

The meeting ended and everyone went their separate ways, eager to begin celebrating their holidays with their own loved ones. But Cecile dawdled as the others left the building, and she was making a show of packing some files to take home for the weekend. Once her colleagues had cleared out, she got into her car and drove to the outskirts of the city. She parked on the back lawn of the ranch style house and took her keycard out of her purse. She put the card in the slot of the outer door, and it swung open. Then she keyed the current week's code into the keypad on the wall beside the inner door and pushed it open when she heard the beep.

Everything was quiet inside, but then again, it would be, wouldn't it? There had only been the one car in the back, besides Cecile's own. Her sister's. Many of their members would be at home for All Saints', like everyone else. Like the cabinet she had successfully infiltrated, the Resistance had regular meetings, as well.

Cecile was conflicted. What she had just heard had been so shocking, so disturbing, that she believed their members should hear about it right away. But on the other hand, All Saints' was a very big holiday in France. She would let her sister decide.

A slender, brown-haired woman approached Cecile, smiling at first. But when she saw the look on her sister's face, she stopped short.

Cecile thought for a moment. What was the sign she was looking for? Her hands gestured frenetically.

"What do you mean, 'we're screwed'?" Eileen signed back, frowning.

\- END OF BOOK 43. -


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